Rockies Hit Three Homers in 5-1 Victory over Rangers; Spoil First Exhibition Game at Globe Life Field
ARLINGTON, Texas — The word throughout Texas Rangers Summer Camp was Globe Life Field would favor pitchers. However, the Colorado Rockies made it play like Coors Field on Tuesday night.
The Rockies spoiled the first exhibition game in Globe Life Field's history, defeating the Rangers by a score of 5-1. Colorado's Daniel Murphy, Nolan Arenado, and David Dahl each hit home runs into Globe Life Field's empty seats off Rangers starter Kyle Gibson.
"It was kind of nice to see our guys compete against another team," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "We’d like to win that game instead of lose it, but overall we came out healthy. Gibson came out healthy. I thought it was fine. He made a couple mistakes and they have a pretty good top of their lineup. They made him pay."
In his final tune-up before the regular season begins, Gibson threw 84 pitches (55 strikes) over five innings, allowing six hits, five runs, one walk, and struck out four batters. Gibson is usually is good about keeping the ball down, but left too many pitches up in the zone.
"I think the ball was up just a little bit," Gibson said. "In some of the situations with the home runs, I probably threw the wrong pitch at the wrong time, probably the ones they were looking for. They took some really good swings on pitches that were actually located pretty good."
Robinson Chirinos caught for Kyle Gibson, which is something they have not done together very often. According to Gibson, tonight's outing was more about working with Chirinos and hitting his spots in the strike zone.
"Every now and then, you are just working on some things. That’s what Robbie and I were trying to do," Gibson said. "I understand it’s an exhibition game and the last tune-up. That’s the first time Robbie has caught me since Spring Training. We were working on a few things. I had a plan of things I wanted to work on and was able to do that so it was good."
Gibson primarily worked on locating his four-seam and two-seam fastballs down and away to right-handed hitters. On the other hand, he was pretty dissatisfied with his slider, which is usually a pretty reliable out pitch.
At the plate, the Rangers left 10 runners on base and failed to muster any offense throughout the night, despite being able to get runners on base. They looked like they were cooking up a two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth inning when Todd Frazier singled and both Chirinos and Nick Solak walked to load the bases for Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The rally was quelled when the Rangers' hottest hitter in camp grounded out to pitcher Chi Chi Gonzalez on the first pitch.
"I’d like for him to be a little more patient," Woodward said. "One thing about Kiner, he’s good about hitting anything you throw up there. So, he needs to be a little more selective. When he hits the barrel to the ball right now, it’s coming off pretty hot. ...He’s got to control those over-zealous emotions.”
The Rangers' lone run came on a Leody Taveras RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning. Taveras had a strong spring and carried that over into camp over the past several weeks. Roster decisions are ultimately coming down to the wire, but Taveras is continuing to surprise and make a hard push for an Opening Day roster spot.
“It’s hard to find any faults in his game right now. He’s been really impressive," Woodward said. "The fact that he’s still here tells you a lot. He’s still very, very in the mix. There’s a lot of competition for those spots, but the kid has played his butt off, honestly. In every way. Defensively, offensively, on the bases, he’s impacted pretty much every game he’s played.”
- Leody Taveras Making a Hard Push at Opening Day Roster
Elvis Andrus recorded the unofficial first hit in Globe Life Field's history with a single into right field in the bottom of the first inning. Meanwhile, Colorado's Daniel Murphy hit the unofficial first home run in the ballpark's history off Kyle Gibson in the top of the second inning.
The Rangers play their final exhibition game of 2020 on Wednesday night when they host the Rockies at Globe Life Field at 7:05 p.m. CST. Jordan Lyles will get his final tune-up for the Rangers, taking on Colorado's Antonio Senzatela.
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