With the Los Angeles Dodgers’ winding down with their exhibition schedule, they received somewhat of a boost as Kiké Hernandez and Yasiel Puig returned to the lineup. Alex Wood took the mound in second and final meeting between the Dodgers and Texas Rangers this spring.
Wood opened the game with a strikeout of Delino DeShields, then retired the next two batters faced for a quick first inning of work. Derek Holland walked Puig with one out, and gave up a two-out single to Adrian Gonzalez.
The southpaw helped himself out by picking off Puig at second base. Ryan Rua hit a leadoff home run in the second inning to give the Rangers an early 1-0 lead. Wood quickly settled back in to get a pair of groundouts and struck out Drew Stubbs.
Holland retired Scott Van Slyke, Austin Barnes and Joc Pederson in order in the bottom of the second. Wood picked up another strikeout in the third, and later worked around a two-out error and base hit to keep the Rangers’ lead at 1-0.
Charlie Culberson led off the bottom of the third with a single. Hernandez briefly gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead with a home run, however umpires discussed it and overturned the home run. Hernandez wound up reaching on a fielder’s choice, but Puig struck out to end the inning.
Wood collected a pair of strikeouts in the fourth and worked around a two-out single to toss another scoreless inning. Gonzalez beat the shift with a one-out slap single to left, though nothing came of it as he was stranded by Van Slyke and Barnes.
CONTINUE READING: Justin Turner’s grand slam ties game
