Losses are never really that great. I know in my decade or so of doing this site I’ve said many a time “This wasn’t a bad loss”, but the bottom line is “you lost”. Still, having said that, only the first two pitchers were bad. The others weren’t.
Kason Gabbard stunk. Two innings, five hits, one walk, one home run. Four earned runs.
Kameron Loe stunk. 1.2 innings, four hits, one walk, two home runs. Four earned runs (five total).
The big shot for Arizona was the grand slam by Connor Jackson in the fourth inning, obviously.
That wasn’t good. The other pitchers we threw out there (Garr, Eric Hurley, Franklyn German, & Elizardo Ramirez) were good. Combined they went 5.1 innings, had just three hits (2 German, 1 Hurley), and only one walk (Ramirez). Eric Hurley was the best there, going three innings.
On the Diamondbacks side, we squared up against their Ace, Brandon Webb. Webb was hittable, but it is March, with a single digit number on the calendar, so there’s probably not a lot to make of that. He went three innings, gave up two runs on four hits.
Offensively, we were led by Michael Young’s first home run of the spring. That’s something that has disappered from Young’s game the last few years – the power numbers have fallen through the floor. Not that he’s ever really been a candidate for 35 home runs, but the 22 & 24 he had in 04 and 05 were what I think most people were expecting. Not the 14 and 9 he had in 06 and 07. Hopefully he can raise that up a bit, say get back to 20. I’d be happy with that.
Young was the only Ranger with multiple hits, the other 7 that were not off #10’s bat were all singles, except for a triple by Jason Botts.
I didn’t get to hear any of this game, as my wife and I have had a personal crisis in our life right now, and I’m only writing this on Wed morning during nervous time as we get ready to head to the hospital. I’ll have more on that later, but baseball isn’t the biggest thought in my mind right now. Far from it.