The Rangers and Dodgers played to a 3-3, 9-inning tie today in Surprise. Appearing in his first game with the Rangers, Ian Desmond played 6 innings in left field and hit a one-out double in the bottom of the 6th. Ike Davis followed with an RBI single that broke a 2-2 tie in that frame, as Texas took a lead into the final inning. Adrian Beltre went 2-for-2 in his first game of the spring, including an RBI single in the first inning. Delino DeShields doubled and scored in the opening frame, as he has hit safely in each of his 2 ‘A’ games this spring. Sam Dyson posted a perfect 3rd inning today. Chi Chi Gonzalez recorded 2.0 scoreless innings to begin the game, and the lone Los Angeles runs over the first 8 innings came on a Scott Van Slyke 2-run homer off Cesar Ramos in the 4th inning. Texas minor leaguer Jefri Hernandez entered with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 9th inning, and threw a run-scoring wild pitch that tied the game. Of the 5 runs allowed by Texas over the first 3 games, 4 have scored on home runs and the other on a wild pitch. Texas batters hit into 4 inning-ending double plays on the day. The Rangers offense has a .355 batting average this spring, posting at least 10 hits in every contest.
Texas plays its first true road game of the spring tomorrow, traveling to Scottsdale for a 2:05 p.m. CDT game against the San Francisco Giants. LHP Cole Hamels is slated to make his first start in an ‘A’ spring game for Texas, facing Giants LHP Ricky Romero. A radio broadcast of the game can be found on 105.3 The Fan in the DFW market, with Eric Nadel and Matt Hicks on the call.
