SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Aaron Cook worked on his slider throughout spring training and called it his most improved pitch after working three innings in the Colorado Rockies' 6-5 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.
Cook gave up three runs and seven hits in his final outing before Monday's opening day start against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The right-hander, who was 16-9 with a 3.96 ERA last year, said he threw 10 to 15 sliders against the Royals.
"I feel really confident with my other pitches," Cook said. "It is just going to give me some other weapons. When I don't feel great, I can go out there and mix it up a little bit instead of having to rely on my sinker the whole time. Instead of them looking for it, it will give them other looks and other things to worry about hopefully."
The Rockies' rotation is set with Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales, Jason Marquis and Jorge De La Rosa behind Cook in that order.
"I think we've got a really strong staff," Cook said. "We tend to fly under the radar a little bit, and that's fine with us. We just go out there and know what we can do and just give our offense a chance to score some runs and hopefully win a bunch of ballgames."
Royals right-hander Gil Meche allowed one run and three hits in four innings, but walked four.
"He wasn't as sharp as I would have liked to have seen," manager Trey Hillman said. "He was behind too much, had too many pitches. I liked his stuff, he just wasn't efficient."
Meche, who will start the Royals' opener Monday at Chicago, pitched well in his final two exhibition games, allowing one run and seven hits in 11 innings while striking out eight.
Mark Teahen, Billy Butler, Jose Guillen, Alex Gordon and Brayan Pena homered for the Royals. The five home runs brought their total to 54, which tops the American League in spring training.
"It's a real good sign," Hillman said. "Several guys continue to swing the bat well. Hopefully, Alex is peaking at the right time. I can't say enough about the way Mark's driving the ball. It's good to see."
Notes
The Royals traded 1B Ross Gload to Florida, released RHP Joel Peralta, optioned RHP Brian Bannister to Triple-A Omaha and placed LHP John Bale, who is recovering from thyroid surgery, on the disabled list. ... Royals closer Joakim Soria gave up two runs in the ninth and has allowed five runs and eight hits in 1 2/3 innings in his past two outings.
