The Good
Outfielder Marlon Byrd, who has been on a roll of late, returned to the lineup on Friday evening and went 1-for-2 with a pair of runs batted in. Byrd is hitting .367 in 15 games this spring.
Another hot bat is 25-year-old catcher Chris Stewart. Stewart’s 2-for-2 performance gave him six hits in eight at bats with the Rangers this month.
After a few days of struggling, the Rangers bullpen got back on track, as they combined to allow just one run in 5.2 innings. Akinori Otsuka, Joaquin Benoit, Scott Feldman, and Ron Mahay each tossed scoreless innings.
The Bad
Brad Wilkerson played the role of rally killer, leaving seven runners on base in four at bats. Wilkerson left the bases loaded in each of his first two plate appearances.
The Ugly
Despite his .400 batting average this spring and versatility in the field, Matt Kata may be out of a roster spot. With the Rangers recently adding Jerry Hairston to the roster, it appears that there will be no room for Kata on the Major League roster.
Notable
The Rangers will take their 9-6 record to Peoria on Saturday to face the Seattle Mariners at 3:05 p.m. CST. Kevin Millwood and Kameron Loe will pitch for the Rangers while Horacio Ramirez will get the nod for the M’s. The appearance will be Millwood’s first in an “A” game this spring.
Nelson Cruz, who was hit on the head earlier in the week, sat out Friday night’s game. He is expected to return to action on Saturday afternoon.
SAN DIEGO (3) AT TEXAS (4)
SAN DIEGO AB R H BI TEXAS AB R H BI
M Giles 2b 3 0 1 0
S Kazmar 2b 2 0 1 0
B Giles rf 2 0 1 0
M Venable rf 2 1 0 0
A Gonzalez 1b 4 0 2 0
P LaForest 1b 1 0 0 0
J Bard c 3 1 1 1
L Carlin c 1 0 0 0
M Cameron cf 4 1 1 0
K Greene ss 3 0 1 0
J Ciriaco ss 1 0 0 0
R Branyan 3b 2 0 1 1
R Huffman 3b 1 0 0 0
P McAnulty dh 3 0 0 0
T Sledge lf 4 0 1 1
TOTALS 36 3 10 3 TOTALS 0 0 0 0
SAN DIEGO 000 210 000 -- 3
TEXAS 000 202 00x -- 4
E--M Cameron, S Kazmar. DP--SAN DIEGO 1. LOB--SAN
DIEGO 9, TEXAS 11. 2B--R Branyan, M Cameron, B
Giles. HR--J Bard 1 (2) (off J Wright). SB--J
Botts 1 (1).
IP H R ER BB SO HR
SAN DIEGO
C Hensley 3 3 0 0 3 2 0
D Brocail 2 2 2 0 1 3 0
C Meredith (L,0-1) 1 3 2 2 1 0 0
K Cameron 1 2 0 0 0 3 0
S Strickland 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
TEXAS
J Wright 3 1-3 4 2 2 1 3 1
W Eyre 2-3 1 0 0 1 1 0
F Francisco 1 2 1 1 0 2 0
A Otsuka (W,1-0) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0
J Benoit 1 1 0 0 0 1 0
S Feldman 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
R Mahay (S,1) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0
WP--C Meredith. HBP--P McAnulty by A Otsuka, M
Kata by C Hensley. SO--SDG: M Cameron 3, P
McAnulty 2, T Sledge, P LaForest, S Kazmar, J
Bard, A Gonzalez. TEX: J Botts 2, S Sosa, K
Lofton, B Wilkerson, M Byrd, M Kata, H Blalock, G
Laird. BB--SDG: R Branyan, B Giles. TEX: H Blalock
2, F Catalanotto, D Meyer, I Kinsler. T--2:44.
A--7,854.