It only took five games, plenty of rolled innings and one roasting by an opponent broadcast booth, but the Texas Rangers finally notched their first spring victory of 2021!
The win came in Surprise Thursday afternoon against the pre-season darling San Diego Padres by a final score of five to three, as the Rangers participated in a seven inning contest for the first time in 2021 Cactus League play.
Just a thought: Maybe Texas should consider playing more seven-plus inning games this spring!
It’s also coming up Gallo so far for Texas. A spring training game was played, so of course, that meant Joey Gallo launched another souvenir into the seats. To say Gallo has been on a tear this spring might be understating the potency of the lefty slugger’s bat right now.
With the Texas Rangers trailing the San Diego Padres 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the 27-year-old All-Star stepped into the batter’s box and obliterated a Brady Feigl pitch deep into the Surprise sun, scoring Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Nick Solak, who had cashed in on an RBI single just moments before.
Joey Gallo can’t stop (and won’t stop) hitting long balls for the Texas Rangers.
The blast was Gallo’s third of the spring. Uncoincidentally, three is the same number of games Gallo has played thus far in 2021. Gallo had an RBI single earlier in the contest as well to raise his spring OPS to a plump 3.048. That’s pretty good, right? We’d say that new bat is working wonders!
With this early standout production, we contend that there’s not much that’s safer in the world as of this writing than Joey Gallo’s odds of beginning the 2021 regular season on the Texas Rangers’ Opening Day 26-man roster.
Ranger Rumblings
Oh yeah, other players also played (and shined) in this game too. We should probably mention them and their performances.
- LHP Wes Benjamin tossed two scoreless innings in relief of opener Joe Palumbo, who surrendered a three-run homer in the first inning. Benjamin was the starter in the Rangers’ Cactus League opener on Sunday against the KC Royals and recorded a 0 in that appearance as well. That brings the southpaw’s scoreless innings streak to three this spring, which bodes well early for his chances of making the team.
- Prospect LHP Jake Latz made his Texas Rangers spring debut in Wednesday’s win, where he made quick work of the Padres in a sixth inning cameo. An impressive performance from the intriguing minor league southpaw, who has his sights set on Arlington in the not-so distant future.
- Nate Lowe went 0-2 with a strikeout in the victory. We’re not saying it’s time to panic about the former Tampa Bay Ray, but that pedestrian output only makes Ronald Guzman’s torrid start look even better.
- Even in a Rangers win, the team couldn’t resist the temptation of utilizing the rolled inning, executing one at the beginning of the game. Better leverage that rule while you have it, I suppose.
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