Ross Stripling leads the way in SF Giants 4-0 victory over Rangers

SF Giants offseason acquisition Ross Stripling delivered 4.2 shutout innings on Wednesday afternoon in a 4-0 win against Bruce Bochy's Rangers.

The SF Giants faced off against old friend Bruce Bochy and his Texas Rangers on Wednesday afternoon. The Giants defeated the Rangers 4-0, improving to 11-12 over the course of the spring. Most importantly, starting pitcher Ross Stripling easily had his best performance of the preseason.

Entering the day with a 6.75 ERA over the course of the spring, Stripling delivered his first scoreless outing of the month. The righty recorded four strikeouts over 4.2 shutout innings pitched. Stripling had to work around a decent amount of traffic on the basepaths, surrendering six hits, but two double plays and a caught stealing prevented the Rangers from getting any rally going.

Brett Wisely and Michael Conforto got the scoring started in the bottom of the third inning. Wisely worked a one-out walk against Rangers starter Jon Gray before Conforto doubled. With runners on second and third, a pickoff attempt by Gray sailed into the outfield and allowed both runners to score.

Outfielder Bryce Johnson continued making a strong case to make the Giants Opening Day roster, recording his league-leading 12th stolen base of the spring and driving in Blake Sabol (Giants #33 prospect) for a late-game insurance run. Sabol continued his standout spring with a pair of singles and a walk in four plate appearances.

Brett Wisely (Giants #22 prospect) was unable to get out of a recent slump, finishing 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Acquired this offseason in a trade with the Rays, Wisely got off to a hot start this spring and seemed to be in the lead to be a left-handed hitting bench bat on the Giants Opening Day roster. However, his triple-slash has fallen to .156/.250/.438 with 13 strikeouts in 36 plate appearances.

Scott Alexander relieved Stripling and allowed a single to the first batter he faced before retiring the next three hitters. From there, Alexander turned the mound over to Jakob Junis who had a chaotic outing. Junis struck out four Rangers hitters, including Corey Seager, while hitting a batter and allowing three hits over 2.1 scoreless innings.

Taylor Rogers finished things off in the ninth, striking out the side. Rogers has been dominant this spring, striking out 11 hitters in 6.1 innings pitched while allowing just one run.

The SF Giants will continue their spring training schedule tomorrow, with a pair of split-squad games. They will travel to Glendale to face the White Sox at 1:05 PM Pacific and host the Guardians at 6:05 PM Pacific.