ARLINGTON, Texas (KNTU) Nearly 25 years after the Ballpark in Arlington first opened its doors to the public, the Texas Rangers played their final opening day game at the majestic stadium, falling to the Chicago Cubs 12-4 on Thursday, March 28.
The game started well for the Rangers. Elvis Andrus opened the scoring with an opposite field two-run home run in the third inning to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. But the Cubs answered with one run in the fourth and six in the fifth to push the score to 7-2, deflating the home crowd. Andrus finished with three hits and had the team’s only RBIs until Nomar Mazara belted hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.
Rangers starting pitcher Mike Minor (0-1, 11.57) looked strong early, allowing just one run in the first four innings; however, he fell apart in the fifth, exiting after 4.2 innings and allowing six runs.
The Texas bullpen had a more difficult time than Minor. The Rangers needed seven pitchers over the final 4.1 innings. Together, the bullpen gave up eight hits, six runs, and six walks.
Jon Lester (1-0, 3.00) made his fourth opening day start for Chicago, going six innings and allowing two runs on four hits while striking out three. Javier Baez supplied all the offense the Cubs would need with two home runs and four RBIs.
When asked if the blowout opener is an indicator of what’s to come for the Rangers this season, new manager Chris Woodward responded, “I’m not worried about one game,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “I’ve been around this game too long. That clubhouse is too strong to let one lopsided loss derail everything they built prior to me getting here. We’re going to learn from every pitch we throw, every swing we take, and we’re going to have dialogue afterward.”
UP NEXT:
The Rangers and Cubs have Friday before continuing their season-opening series on Saturday. Edinson Volquez is set to start for Texas while former Ranger Yu Darvish is scheduled to take the mound for Chicago. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.
