It wasn’t quite Bud Selig sitting in the stands in Milwaukee, but the Rangers & Reds played to a 5-5 tie on Friday. Heard on Saturday that the umpires won’t go extra innings at all? That was new to me. But ties in spring training aren’t too uncommon, just not a regular occurrence.
The Rangers ran just three pitchers out there this game. Colby Lewis started and went four. Michael Kirkman followed, went four as well. The final pitcher was Tateyama, on a day where his homeland was devastated. Lewis gave up two earned runs (three overall), and Kirkman gave up just one run – it too was unearned. Tateyama also gave up a run, so they all had something on their line. Kirkman was the best, though – just two hits and no walks over four innings with six punchouts. A lot of people have him as a dark horse for biggest pitching surprise in 2011. His overall line this spring has been quite good, I could see it. But I’m not the best prognosticator with young guys like that. :)
This game was more a power game than usual. The entire lineup had ten hits. Six of them were extra base hits. There were four doubles (Kinsler, Torrealba, Moreland, & Gentry). Kinsler also followed up with a two run home run, and the final one was by a guy I’d never heard of for us – Michael Olt. That one tied the game in the bottom of the ninth.
But that was it. Didn’t go any further, the game stopped there. 5-5 tie. Not a lot to say either, I missed this game totally.