The second of the day’s two split squad games was in Mesa against the Cubs.
It had Michael Young playing his original position with the team, second base. Got a hit and a walk. Raised his spring batting average to .625! ;)
Both teams sported a four spot on the line score. The Cubs went up first, scoring a run against Rangers starter Derek Holland. Derek only went two innings, and gave up three hits and a run, but that was it. OK outing. Darren Oliver followed up with a perfect frame.
Then Tanner Scheppers. Great prospect. Not today, though. Five hits and two walks in 0.2 innings. Four earned runs. Bleargh. Pretty awful. Most of the rest of the relievers were pretty good, except Tateyama, who gave up four hits and two runs in his 1.2 innings pitched. Overall, I’d say the pitching was OK with moments of “Ugh”. Again, a pretty typical early spring performance.
The Rangers four spot came in the sixth, but not all the runs were earned. Error, Walk, wild pitch, then a three run home run by Mitch Moreland were the way this was mostly done. It was Moreland’s first home run of the spring.
We took the lead finally in the 8th when we were up against former Ranger Thomas Diamond. After a single, and a walk, David Paisano tripled, scoring two. That was the win there. We put up an insurance run in the 9th, which was important, as we tried giving the game back in the bottom of the ninth, but fortunately hung on for the win.
After the two split squad wins, the Rangers spring record is now 4-2. So far, so good.