Texas Rangers vs Quintana Roo Tigers – Game Recap

March 8, 2014; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers relief pitcher Tanner Scheppers (52) pitches the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Arlington, Texas – The Texas Rangers finally returned from Arizona to play an exhibition game against the Quintana Roo Tigers at Globe Life Park.  After what has been a rough spring training with all of the injuries, the Rangers are ready for a change of scenery.  Now at home, the have taken care of a lot of business and have a new look when you compare then to the Texas Rangers of 2011.

Exhibition game: The Rangers have almost everything worked out for Opening day, with the exception of second base.  They recently acquired Donnie Murphy to play second base.  Murphy, Adam Rosales,  and Josh Wilson are currently working towards being the Opening day second baseman, but it appears that Murphy is the favorite.  With spring training done, today’s game is only an exhibition game, meaning none of the stats will count.

Give the ball away: Watching batting practice is always fun.  You have a great chance to see some long shots and catch an occasional ball.  Today’s game was no different.  A gentleman was standing behind the Rangers bullpen when a player from the Quintana Roo Tigers hit a deep shot in the seats.  The man retrieved the ball and without a second thought, walked over to give the ball to some kids.  Great to see people thinking of the little ones.  It always matters more to them.

Quintana Roo Tigers: The Rangers have now played the Tigers 3 years in a row.  The Tigers are a Triple-A Mexican League team from Cancun.  They have won the Mexican League Championship 2 out of the last 3 years.  The Rangers have a current record of 3-0 against them in exhibition play.

Recap: The Rangers had a beautiful 80 degree day for their exhibition game against the Tigers.  Tanner Scheppers took to the mound for the Texas Rangers first.  The Rangers used him, Martin Perez, Justin Germano, Alec Asher, Daniel McCutchin, Shawn Tolleson, and Seth Rosin against the Tigers.

The Tigers lead off batter Jerry Owens got the first hit of the night off Tanner Scheppers off a line drive to left field for a double..  Scheppers managed to hold the next two batters to a pair of ground outs, but it still allowed Owens to score a run.

Shin-Soo Choo lead off for the Texas Rangers.  He tried to earn himself a walk, but after a full count, he hit a weak infield ball for the first out of the first.  Donnie Murphy started off his day by hitting a double to center off the Kia sign.   Prince Fielder didn’t wait long to hit his first home run at Globe Life Park.  He hit a 2-run home run to center off a 3-0 pitch to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead over the Tigers

Tanner Scheppers only pitched one inning, but that was expected since he will be the Rangers Opening day starter. He allowed one hit and one run.  Martin Perez looked comfortable on the mound, he managed to strike out the first two batters in the second inning.  He walked one batter, but kept his cool and ended the inning scoreless.

J.P. Arencibia managed to drive the ball hard to center for a double in the second inning.  Josh Wilson followed him with a solid hit that made the game 3-1.  Wilson continued to show the Rangers why they should keep him by getting a stolen base with Shin-Soo Choo batting.

Donnie Murphy put an exclamation point on to his night when he hit a 3-run home run in the second to deep left.  The play was first ruled a double, because use it had hit the wall, but Ron Washington asked for the play to be reviewed.  After the review, Murphy’s hit is ruled a home run, Rangers lead 6-1.  The home run was off a 3-1 pitch to right and just cleared the wall.

The Rangers continued their aggressive base running in the third.  Alex Rios got on base with a little looper to right and almost immediately stole second base and was able to advance to third on the throwing error.

Alec Asher came in the game during the 4th inning to replace Justin Germano.  He allowed a 0-1 home run to Jorge Vazquez to bring the score to 6-2 Rangers.

The Quintana Roo Tigers managed to get the better of Alec Asher in the 4th inning.  After 2 singles and a walk, Jerry Owen singled to center to bring in 2 runs.  Asher ended his night after allowing 5 hits and 3 runs.  Tigers cut the Rangers lead to 6-4 in the top of the 5.  Daniel McCutchen came in to replace Asher to stop the bleeding and to kept the Rangers lead.

The Rangers brought in a majority of their substitution players in during the 6th inning.  Shawn Tolleson was able to pitch a quick inning.  Elvis Andrus came during the bottom half of the 6th inning to pinch hit for Josh Wilson, he hit a single to left field to lead off the inning.  Andrus also showed off his running abilities by stealing second base and third base with Brad Snyder batting.

In the bottom of the 8th, Francisco Rodriguez started off the inning with a hit by Robinson Chirinos.  But, he quickly erased that by picking off Chirinos.  It appeared to be a bad lead off by Chirinos.  Rodriguez then walked Adam Rosales, Michael Choice and Brad Snyder to load the bases.  Rougned Odor then hit an RBI fielder’s choice to make the score 7-4.

Summary: The Rangers beat the Quintana Roo Tigers now for the third year in a row.  Despite all of the recent injuries, the Rangers looked pretty solid tonight.  Donnie Murphy had a great night going 2 for 3.  Also, Martin Perez pitched well by striking out his first two batters.  Elvis Andrus entered the game and was able to make solid throws to first and will play shortstop in the upcoming exhibition series in Houston.  At least from tonight’s game, it appears the Jon Daniels has been able to put enough band-aids on the team for Opening day.  If they can hold it together for a few weeks, everything should be a distant memory.

Next Up:  The Rangers will head to San Antonio for two exhibition games against the Houston Astros this Friday and Saturday. They will have an off day on Sunday.  Then they will open the season on Monday, March 31 against the Philadelphia Phillies at 1:05 PM CDT.