GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The way Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy views Spring Training, it's just a matter of checklists.
"That's what I did today," Kennedy said after the Royals' 7-2 victory vs. a split-squad Dodgers club on Friday afternoon at Camelback Ranch. "I checked something off the list."
That something was Kennedy's Cactus League debut, and it went about as well as he could have hoped. He pitched two nearly flawless innings, allowing only one baserunner (a walk) and facing the minimum six hitters.
Kennedy needed only 25 pitches to work his two innings, so he threw about 10 more pitches on the side to get to his 35-pitch limit.
"I don't think that's ever happened before in Spring Training," Kennedy said, smiling. "Usually I use my pitch limit in the game."
Kennedy kept it simple for his first outing.
"I was just working on fastball down, down, down," Kennedy said. "I think I threw one breaking ball, a slider and a couple of changeups.
"I just made a couple of pitches where I put too much on it and pulled off a little. But it was just nice to knock off the rust a little."
"You look forward to [that first outing]. You get a little more adrenaline when it's the first time out in Spring Training. No more screens around you like in live BP. It's real. It was good."