Royals open spring schedule on Feb. 27

KANSAS CITY -- Two home games against World Series champion San Francisco and two visits to a new Phoenix-area ballpark are on the Royals' Spring Training schedule.

The Royals announced a 32-game schedule that will begin on Sunday, Feb. 27, with the traditional charity game against the American League champion Texas Rangers at the Surprise, Ariz., complex that the two teams share.

The Giants will visit the Rangers on March 25 for a night game and again two days later for a Sunday afternoon game. By that late stage of the schedule, the rosters should be pretty well set.

The Royals will be part of the inaugural season of the new complex at Scottsdale to be shared by Arizona and Colorado called Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. The D-backs and Rockies are moving from Tucson into the first Spring Training facility built on Native American land. The two visits will be on March 11 against the Rockies and March 26 against the D-backs.

At Surprise Stadium, the Royals will have 16 home games plus two others as the visiting team against the Rangers. Each of the other 14 Cactus League teams will visit the Royals at Surprise at least once.

In addition to the Giants game, there are two other night games at home -- on March 17 against the Seattle Mariners and March 22 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Reporting dates at Surprise are Monday, Feb. 14, for pitchers and catchers and Friday, Feb. 18, for the rest of the players. The first official practice days follow those dates, but many players arrive earlier to begin workouts on their own.

The Royals will break camp after their last Cactus League game against the Chicago White Sox on March 29 and fly directly to Kansas City for their March 31 opener against the Angels. In previous years, they've stopped in Houston or Arlington for a series just prior to Opening Day.

Sales for season tickets, 7-packs and Sunday 5-packs will begin at 9 a.m. CT through the Surprise Recreation Complex by mail or by calling 623-222-2222. Or visit www.royals.com/springtraining to obtain a ticket brochure.

Individual game tickets will go on sale at 8 a.m. CT on Jan. 8 through royals.com, by calling 800-745-3000 or by visiting the Surprise Stadium Box Office.

-- All times are Central.