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Holland Shines, Rangers Beat Cubs 5-0

By Kenneth Nash

Mar 18, 2016; San Antonio, TX, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Derek Holland (45) throws to the plate during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 18, 2016; San Antonio, TX, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Derek Holland (45) throws to the plate during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Texas Rangers bounced back from a few rough Cactus League games to beat the Chicago Cubs 5-0 on Wednesday.

Derek Holland got the start on the mound for the Rangers against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday and had an outstanding outing. Holland threw 5 innings for the Texas Rangers giving up 4 hits and no runs with 7 strikeouts. It was a good outing for Holland who’s Spring Training ERA is now a 2.65. Holland threw 61 pitches on the day and then threw another 20 in the bullpen on the afternoon. He said all his pitches felt good although he didn’t use his changeup much.

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Matt Bush, Keone Kela, and Shawn Tolleson came out of the bullpen for Texas and all put up shutout appearances. Bush, who is newly signed to the Rangers after a 3 year stint away from the game during incarceration pitched 2 hitless innings in which he walked 1 and had 2 strikeouts. Kela and Tolleson both put together shutout innings allowing Texas to hold on to the shutout win.

Ian Desmond also had a big day on Wednesday. He went 1-3 with an RBI triple at the plate and also turned an impressive double play on a catch at the wall in which he doubled off the runner at first with a good throw. Desmond continues to make this transition to the outfield during the Spring but all signs point to the transition going smoothly with his defensive abilities only seeming to get better.

Pedro Ciriaco went 2-3 in the game for the Texas Rangers improving his batting average to .500 and allowing him to reach safely in 11 of 12 games. Ciriaco is fighting to put himself on the Opening Day roster for the Rangers and his Spring Training showing at the plate has done nothing but help the defensive wizard.

Injury Update

Delino DeShields who is dealing with right biceps tendinitis did not play on Wednesday.

Up Next

The Texas Rangers have two games today, an afternoon game against the Reds and a night game against Oakland. Chi Chi Gonzalez will start against Cincinnati and AJ Griffin will get the start against his former team, the Athletics.

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