The Rangers fell short in a late comeback attempt and lost to the Cleveland Indians, 4-2, on Monday afternoon in Goodyear. Texas out-hit the Tribe 11-to-9 and totaled 13 baserunners, but was held scoreless until the 7th inning. Texas trailed 4-0 after 6 innings, but brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the 9th. Ronald Guzman came off the bench and drove in both Texas runs with a double in the 7th inning and sacrifice fly in the 9th. Pedro Ciriaco had 3 infield hits and scored both of the club’s runs. Prince Fielder had a pair of hits, including his first double of the spring. Bobby Wilson also recorded a multi-hit effort. Delino DeShields had a single in the 7th and has now reached base safely in 7 of 8 games. Texas starter A.J. Griffin allowed a pair of runs over 2.2 innings of work. Tony Barnette (1.0 IP) and Alex Claudio (1.1 IP) each logged scoreless appearances out of the bullpen. Barnette recorded a pair of strikeouts and has now whiffed 8 of 21 batters faced this spring. In Surprise, Chi Chi Gonzalez and Andrew Faulkner each pitched in a minor league game vs. Oklahoma City (Los Angeles Dodgers).
The Rangers will face the Indians again on Tuesday afternoon at 3:05 CST in Surprise. LHP Martin Perez (1st A Start) will be on the mound for Texas, while Carlos Carrasco (1-0, 0.00) starts for Cleveland. A free audio webcast of the game can be found at texasrangers.com, with Matt Hicks and Jared Sandler calling the action.
