SURPRISE, Ariz. — The Rangers defeated the Indians, 5-2, on Friday. The shutout effort came in front of a spring-high 7,259 fans at Surprise Stadium and marked Texas’ 3rd straight win at the venue. The club’s offense produced 11 hits in the contest, reaching double digits in hits for the 9th time in 22 games this spring.
The pitching staff’s performance was keyed by Jason Hammel, who earned the win after tossing 4.0 shutout innings in his 1st start of the spring to lower his ERA to 1.04 (1 ER/8.2 IP). The veteran right-hander retired the side in order in 2 of his 4 innings, including a 3rd inning in which he struck out the side. A 3-run outburst in the bottom of the 4th put Hammel in line for the win, as Elvis Andrus, Nomar Mazara, and Asdrúbal Cabrera recorded consecutive singles to open the scoring. Andrus finished 1-for-3 with a run scored and has gone 6-for-9 with 7 RBI in his last 3 games.
Later in the 4th, Ronald Guzmán added a sacrifice fly to bring home Mazara and was followed by an RBI single from Willie Calhoun to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead. Guzmán also tacked on an RBI single in the 6th inning, as he has reached safely in 11 of 13 games this spring at .323 (10-31). Cabrera (2-for-3) and Mazara (2-for-4) were the only players to record multiple hits in the game, with Cabrera extending his on-base streak to 7 games, a stretch in which he has gone 8-for-14. Delino DeShields doubled to right field in the 7th inning, and he has gone 9-for-26 over his last 10 games while reaching safely in each contest. Texas plated its final run in the 7th on an RBI single by Logan Forsythe that scored Zack Granite, who had entered the game as a pinch runner. Jordan Romano worked 2.0 scoreless innings as one of 4 Texas relievers, and the right-hander has held opponents scoreless in 5 of 6 outings this spring.
In a minor league game this afternoon on Royals Field 4 in Surprise, RHP Connor Sadzeck (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 12 pitches/9 strikes) started for Triple-A Nashville against Kansas City’s Triple-A Omaha affiliate.
The Rangers will play the Reds on Saturday in a 3:05 p.m. CT contest in Goodyear.
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