The Texas Rangers lost in walkoff fashion in a late-night affair with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.
Of course, we all know that doesn't mean a thing.
Derek Holland made his final start of the Rangers' month and a half in Arizona before the team heads home this week to prepare for Monday's Opening Day, and despite one big Justin Turner swing, the lefty was happy with his night at the office.
Holland pitched five innings and had a shutout working until one big two-out swing from Justin Turner landed beyond the outfield wall for a game-tying grand slam. He struck out two and walked one while allowing six hits. Despite a slow start, he held the Dodgers scoreless through 4 2/3 innings.
“I think it was better [than his last start, which was five scoreless innings] due to the fastball," Holland told reporters. "It started off erratic and I found my stuff. Last start, I started hot and stayed hot. …I feel like this was a perfect example of how I’ve matured and stayed calm in the situation. I kept it under control, that’s the main thing.”
Before that big Dodgers inning, which was one out away from going unscathed, Holland threw nine straight shutout innings to cap off a pretty nice spring for perhaps the most important pitcher on the Rangers staff in terms of having his hand in whether the team is successful in 2016.
