FINAL: Rangers 6, Royals 2

SURPRISE, Ariz. - Three immediate takeaways and the game breakdown from the Rangers exhibition opener Wednesday against Kansas City at Surprise Stadium in the battle of what is being hailed as the "Campus of Champions" because one team is the defending World Champs and the other is AL West Champs. You can figure out which is which.

Three takeaways

Get excited: Nomar Mazara will not make the big league team. Just keep telling yourself that. And do not get caught up in the fact that, including the intrasquad game, the Rangers best hitting prospect is 6 for 6 and impressing everybody in Surprise.

He entered the game as a sub and proceeded to go 3 for 3, topping things off with a three-run homer to right off 2015 Ranger Ross Ohlendorf to give the Rangers a 6-2 lead in the ninth. The ball was struck well, and by "well," we mean clobbered.

"Nomar had a nice day," said Rangers manager Jeff Banister, who also cited a strong throw Mazara made from right field. "A very nice day against a big league pitching. I'm proud of him."

Said Mazara: "I've been seeing the pitches pretty good. I'm not trying to do too much, take it at-bat to at-bat and put a good swing on it. I Always go out there and try to give my best, 100 per cent. Develop myself every day, prove myself and try to get the experience so I can get the most out of this.

He might even convince the PA guys to play something the slightest bit on the news side. Don't think they played a song in the stadium that was released during Mazara's lifetime. He was born in 1995.

Colby's good start: Colby Lewis' two scoreless innings can't be overlooked, even if it is March 2. Lewis is a location guy and those guys struggle mightily early in spring training. Consider that over the past four years, Lewis allowed 10 hits, 10 runs and four walks in 3.2 official spring innings.

That said, the first inning was very close to being a repeat of last year when he allowed six runs. Lewis loaded the bases on a double by Mike Moustakas (6 for 13 against him in his regular season career) and a pair of walks. Elvis Andrus leaped to catch an inning-ending liner. Lewis then worked a perfect second inning.

First impression: As noted earlier this week, no player in camp stands to be more impacted by Ian Desmond than does OF Justin Ruggiano. If it is important that he perform well, Ruggiano had a nice start with a hit off right-hander Kyle Zimmer in the second inning and a double off the top of the wall in center against lefty John Lannan.

With Desmond deemed the starting left fielder, Ruggiano is now a straight bench player rather than part of a platoon. And since only $500,000 of his $1.65 million contract is guaranteed, he must fight off every other outfielder in camp to hold on to a role.

Game breakdown

The arms: LHP Andrew Faulkner walked No. 9 hitter Drew Butera with two outs in the fifth. It's early March, but Butera has a career OBP Of .241. Faulkner did come back to get elite lefty Alex Gordon on a ground ball to end the inning. It only cost him two extra pitches. ... Low-velocity LHP Alex Claudio, who allowed four homers in 15.2 major league innings last year, allowed a homer to Jorge Bonifacio, the first batter he faced. ... Like Claudio, RHP Phil Klein allowed a homer to the first batter he faced, Parker Morin. Klein allowed four homers in 17.1 IP.

The bats: Though Ruggiano's double was the best struck by the Rangers, 2B Rougned Odor had a sharply lined single to right in his first at-bat. ... The Rangers scored runs on the productive plate approach theory with sacrifice flies by Patrick Kivlehan and Doug Bernier. ... Did we mention Nomar Mazara?

The gloves: SS Elvis Andrus leaped to grab Christian Colon's bases-loaded liner to end the first inning. ... On the first ball hit to him last year, CF Delino DeShields struggled under a high sky and embarrassingly lost it. He made a nice running play going towards the wall in his first game of spring, 2016. Working with DeShields to get better reads on fly balls is a priority this spring. ... 3B Doug Bernier reacted well on a hard hit ball with the tying run at second. He got the out at first, but the potential tying run did move up to third. ... The inning ended with a nice play in the hole by SS Pedro Ciriaco.

The legs: The Rangers had two players thrown out on the bases Wednesday, Delino DeShields on a steal and Hanser Alberto trying to move up on a ball in the dirt.

Up next: The Rangers face Kansas City for the second straight game at 2:05 p.m. CT. LHP Derek Holland and RHP Jeremy Guthrie are each scheduled to pitch for the Rangers, followed by RHP Anthony Ranaudo, LHP Sam Freeman, RHP Francisco Mendoza and RHP Tom Wilhelmsen. Former Ranger Edinson Volquez starts for Kansas City.