After opening their 2016 Cactus League schedule with a win on Thursday against the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to hand the Texas Rangers their first loss in three games.
Joc Pederson collected the Dodgers’ first hit of the game, lining the first pitch he saw from Chi Chi Gonzalez for a one-out single to center field. Pederson was forced out at second base on a Chase Utley grounder, which the veteran prevented from being a double play by hustling out of the box.
Nothing came of it however, as Scott Van Slyke flied out to center field. Scott Kazmir got off to a rough start in his Dodgers debut, beginning with a Delino DeShields leadoff double.
Shin-Soo Choo followed with a base hit that put runners on the corners with no outs. Kazmir struck out Prince Fielder swinging, then surrendered an RBI single to Adrian Beltre’s that gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Kazmir ended the inning by getting Ian Desmond to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. Gonzalez sailed through the second inning by retiring Kiké Hernandez, A.J. Ellis and Trayce Thompson in order.
Justin Ruggiano struck out to open the bottom of the second, but Kazmir again found himself in trouble soon after. Rougned Odor, Elvis Andrus and Michael McKenry combined for a trio of singles, with McKenry’s extending the Rangers’ lead to 2-0.
Kazmir worked his way out of trouble by inducing DeShields into an inning-ending double play. The southpaw’s day came to an end after 37 pitches over two innings. He allowed two runs on six hits, faced 10 batters, had two strikeouts and induced two double plays.
CONTINUE READING: Dodgers Rally In Ninth To Force Tie
Sam Dyson came on in relief of Gonzalez in the third and retired the side in order. Mike Bolsinger worked around a Beltre two-out single in the bottom of the third by getting Desmond swinging. The strikeout was Bolsinger’s second of the inning.
Cesar Ramos took over for the Rangers in the fourth and promptly struck out Pederson for the first out. With one out and Utley standing on first base by way of a bloop single, Scott Van Slyke’s towering two-run home run tied the game.
Ramos proceeded to retire the next two batters faced to keep the score knotted at 2-2. Odor reached on an error with one out in the bottom of the fourth, then promptly stole second base. Andrus worked a walk, but Bolsinger got of trouble as McKenry grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Ramos retired the Dodgers in order in the fifth, with Dodgers reliever Louis Coleman following suit on just 10 pitches in the bottom half of the inning. Carl Crawford reached on a leadoff single in the sixth and was replaced by pinch-runner Rico Noel.
After Noel was thrown out attempting to steal second base, Pederson went down swinging. Micah Johnson kept the inning alive with a base hit, though nothing came of it as Van Slyke followed with a fly out to right.
Pedro Baez entered as part of the Dodgers’ slew of changes in the bottom of the sixth. The hard-throwing right-hander gave up a double to Desmond and RBI single to pinch-hitter Ike Davis. Baez limited the damage by striking out Drew Robinson and getting Pedro Ciriaco to fly out.
Pitching with a 3-2 lead, Yohander Mendez hit Hernandez with a pitch to start the seventh inning. Hernandez was later picked off to end the inning with Austin Barnes pinch-hitting for Alex Guerrero. Jacob Rhame set the Rangers down in order in bottom of the seventh, collecting one strikeout in the process.
Barnes stole second base in the eighth inning after drawing a leadoff walk. Elian Herrera’s grounder advanced the catcher to third base with one out. Rangers reliever Myles Jaye hit Noel with a pitch, putting the go-ahead run on base with one out.
Noel moved into scoring position on a passed ball, but was stranded as Rob Segedin and Johnson struck out. Jharel Cotton worked around a one-out walk and base hit in the eighth by getting a double play to complete a scoreless inning of relief.
Corey Brown and Charlie Culberson combined for back-to-back base hits with no outs in the ninth. Following an Alex Hassan double play, Jack Murphy and Barnes kept the Dodgers alive by drawing walks.
Jefri Hernadez replaced Connor Sadzeck and promptly allowed the Dodgers to tie the game on a wild pitch. Cotton hit a batter with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but prevented the Rangers from enjoying a walk-off win as the game ended in a 3-3 tie.
The Dodgers set a franchise record with eight ties last spring.