Rangers hit 4 HRs, sink Tribe at Alamodome

March 18th, 2017

SAN ANTONIO -- Exhibition baseball in San Antonio concluded Saturday, with the Rangers topping the Indians, 8-4, before an announced Big League Weekend crowd of 28,674 at the Alamodome.
The teams played to a 4-4 tie until Chris Narveson yielded homers to the Rangers' Scott Heineman and Alex Burg in the seventh inning.

Shaffer, Hankins go deep as Tribe ties Royals
Rangers right-hander , who, along with Friday's starter, A.J. Griffin, is a candidate to win one of the open jobs in the rotation, had few issues in his first three innings, holding the Tribe scoreless on three hits. Things unraveled in the fourth, when the Indians scored three runs (two earned).
"It started off fine," Gee said. "I felt good, I was locating all my pitches. I felt like I kind of ran out of gas as the pitch count went up. I just kind of lost command. Overall, I'm healthy, so it's good."
Saturday's game marked Gee's first start of Spring Training. All of his prior four outings, including the past three in which he didn't allow a run, were in relief.

"I've been recovering well between outings," Gee said. "I'm just trying to get the stamina up. The last inning, I got tired and couldn't command the ball."
The start also marked Gee's longest outing. He threw 3 1/3 innings, surpassing his March 13 outing vs. the Giants, when he recorded three innings.
Indians right-hander Mike Clevinger, who is attempting to fit into a crowded rotation, yielded three runs over 1 1/3 innings. The big blow came in the second frame, when launched a three-run home run to the right-center area of the Alamodome.
"His fastball was, velocity-wise, real good," manager Terry Francona said. "I think he got up and touched 97 [mph]. The second inning was a little bit of what we've seen -- a four-pitch walk, a 1-2 walk, the next guy, 1-2, worked him back to 3-2 and he gave up the home run. He's still a work in progress on attacking hitters."
Clevinger's day was finished after he issued a walk to Doug Bernier. , who is in the running for a bullpen spot, struck out the next two. absorbed the next three innings, allowing one run.
Indians Up Next: The Indians will return to Arizona in time to reconvene as a full squad and play host to the D-backs in Goodyear at 4:05 p.m. ET on Gameday Audio. Right-hander Josh Tomlin will take the mound to face Arizona, which will counter with lefty .
Rangers Up Next: Knuckleballer makes his second start Sunday against the Mariners at 3:05 p.m. CT in Surprise on MLB.TV. Gamboa was supposed to pitch Friday against the Indians in San Antonio, but was pushed back to fill 's spot. Gamboa allowed three runs in four innings against the Athletics on March 11.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.