The Los Angeles Dodgers continued Cactus League play with a trip to Surprise to take on the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon and despite some early offense, they fell by a score of 9-8.
The Dodgers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as Kiké Hernandez and Corey Seager both singled in the first inning against Rangers starter Jordan Lyles. Will Smith then drove them both in with a two-out double, giving the Dodgers an early 2-0 lead.
L.A. then put two more on the scoreboard in the second one a two-run home run off the bat of Cody Thomas, who now leads the Cactus League with five long balls. It is unlikely that Thomas makes the Opening Day big league roster, but he has certainly opened some eyes within the organization this spring and could make his Major League debut in 2020.
Julio Urias made his first start of the spring for the Dodgers and turned in a solid outing. He got hit around a little bit in his first outing of the spring but responded by tossing three shutout innings while allowing just one hit with three strikeouts and one walk on Sunday.
There was a scary moment in the bottom of the first when a 95 MPH fastball got way from Urias and hit former Dodgers prospect Willie Calhoun in the face. Calhoun was in obvious pain, bleeding from the mouth and was forced to leave the game. Urias and Calhoun were former teammates with Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2017 and are close friends, so there obviously was no intent behind the pitch. Hopefully, Calhoun is able to avoid serious injury and will be back on the field soon.
The Dodgers added to their lead with three more runs in the fourth. Gavin Lux, Zach McKinstry, AJ Pollock, Hernandez and Seager all singled in the inning that featured the Rangers losing a pair of balls in the sun that should have been caught.
Kenley Jansen pitched the fourth for the Dodgers and surrendered his first run of the spring on a solo home run by Todd Frazier. He also gave up a double but otherwise struck out the side in the inning.
That gave the Rangers some momentum though as they went on to score four runs in the fifth off Adam Kolarek and then three more in the sixth against Edubray Ramos to take an 8-7 lead.
The two teams exchanges runs late, so the Rangers were able to hold on for the 9-8 victory.
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