The Rangers and Royals tied 5-5 in the Cactus League opener for both clubs today in Surprise. The teams combined to club four home runs, as 8 of the 10 runs scored in the contest came via the long ball.
Texas plated its first runs in the bottom of the third inning, when Corey Seager launched a towering three-run home run off Foster Griffin to the right-center field berm. The blast was the second of two hits recorded by Seager on the day, as he singled in his first spring at-bat in the opening inning.
The Rangers would stretch their lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth via a two-run, opposite-field home run by Nathaniel Lowe off Brad Peacock that narrowly cleared the fence in left field.
Kansas City leveled the score in the top of the seventh inning thanks in part to a two-run homer by Nick Pratto off Jack Leiter. Texas’ first-round selection in the 2021 MLB Draft (2nd overall), Leiter entered in the sixth and struck out the first 4 batters he faced in his Cactus League ‘A’ game debut.
Jake Latz started for the Rangers and allowed one run (earned) on four hits and a walk, striking out three of the 10 batters he faced. The Rangers received scoreless innings from Matt Bush (3rd), Jesús Tinoco (8th), and Daniel Robert (9th), who struck out all three batters he faced.
The Rangers will host the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 p.m. CT in Surprise. Texas RHP Dane Dunning is slated to make his spring debut against Brewers RHP Luis Perdomo.
From Rangers PR staff reports
