Dodgers Defeat Rangers 10-2: Kershaw K’s 11, Game Notes & Scouting Takeaways

Dodgers Batting

Realistically, Spring Training stats don’t count for anything. Neither do the outcomes of Spring Training games. Still, the Dodgers had a field day with Rangers pitching. All it took was two batters into the game for L.A. to have a lead, and they never looked back. They scored in five of nine innings, and scored multiple runs in three of those innings. Chase Utley led the way for the team, going 3-4 with a home run, 2 RBI and two runs scored. Logan Forsythe, Andrew Toles and Charlie Culberson also had two or more hits each for L.A.

Yasiel Puig and Omar Estevez collected 2 RBI each on two-strike, two-out singles. Andrew Toles and Chris Taylor both hit doubles off of Gee, the first of which drove Puig home in the third inning. Although he didn’t record a hit in the game, Joc Pederson was also looking sharp. He walked in the fourth, and squared up fastballs in two at bats, hitting a deep fly ball both times. Yasmani Grandal had a tough day at the plate, going 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout.

With Utley swinging like he is, it’s going to be tough for manager Dave Roberts to keep him on the bench. Logan Forsythe is expected to be the everyday second baseman, meaning management will have to get creative if they want to get Utley’s bat in the lineup. Also, it appears that Andrew Toles has proven his case as an everyday outfielder. This will give him a chance to show that last year’s .314 small-sample batting average was no fluke.

Rangers Batting

For every blowout game, there’s going to be an ugly losing side. Thursday showed us that the Rangers can have a very ugly losing side. Rangers hitters amassed 15 strikeouts and stranded 10 runners on base. The top performers for Texas were Mike Napoli and Nomar Mazara, who were the only guys to get a hit off of Kershaw. Neither of those hits started any sort of momentum, but it was encouraging to see Mazara get a solid hit off of a lefty, let alone Clayton Kershaw.

Adrian Beltre went hitless in two at bats, but drove a ball to deep center field in his second time up. Rougned Odor also had a couple of decent at bats, including a nine-pitch battle with Kershaw that resulted in a deep fly ball to center. But like Beltre, Odor was 0-2 with a strikeout on the day. In addition to those two, Delino DeShields, Jurickson Profar, Ryan Rua and Elvis Andrus were also hitless

Just when it seemed like the Rangers were going to be shut out 10-0, Drew Robinson put them on the board. With a runner on and one out in the ninth, Robinson drove the first pitch he saw over the right field fence, scoring the only runs of the night for Texas. It was the fourth home run of the spring for Robinson, who could be called up in a pinch if someone gets hurt.