Bauer, Richards impress in tie

March 29th, 2016

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Garrett Richards and Trevor Bauer each pitched well in their last Spring Training starts as the Indians and Angels tied, 1-1, in Tuesday's spring finale from Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Richards, declared the Opening Day starter in the morning, gave up just one run in five innings, striking out four, walking one and scattering only a couple of hits.
Bauer, whose place in the Indians' rotation has yet to be determined, pitched six scoreless innings, giving up seven hits, walking none and striking out seven to drop his Cactus League ERA to 2.25.
"I don't think coming out of the chute he had his real good life," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "But, it was nice to see that, even without maybe his best fastball, that he still was able to get them out. And I know that wasn't their lineup, but he kept them off the scoreboard, which is good."

The Angels' lineup was without starters Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Kole Calhoun, Andrelton Simmons, Yunel Escobar and Daniel Nava, all of whom had already returned to Southern California.
Cleveland's only run off Richards came in the third. Catcher Roberto Perez led off with a single, advanced two bases on a couple of wild pitches and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jose Ramirez. Rafael Ortega went 3-for-3 with a double and tied the game in the seventh, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Ji-Man Choi, the likely favorite for the Angels' last bench spot.

The game resulted in the Angels' sixth tie of the spring, keeping them from suffering their first home loss since March 10. 
For Richards, Tuesday marked the end of a spring that finally saw the hard-throwing right-hander grasp a changeup. 
"I think that's definitely going to be a weapon to use to get people off everything else, and it's going to open up a lot of doors," said Richards, who will face the Cubs, and ace Jake Arrieta, on Monday. "I'm going to continue to improve on it and take it into the season."

Up next for Indians: Right-hander Corey Kluber will take the mound on Thursday for his final tuneup for Opening Day, opposite Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in a 4:05 p.m. ET Cactus League clash at Camelback Ranch. Kluber is slated to log five or six innings and will be followed by closer Cody Allen and relievers Jeff Manship and Ross Detwiler. Follow the game live with MLB Gameday.
Up next for Angels: The Angels are officially off on Wednesday, though Jered Weaver will make an important Minor League start at Tempe Diablo Stadium (starting at 1 p.m. PT) and most of the everyday players will take part in a workout at Angel Stadium. The team will then play the three-game exhibition Freeway Series against the Dodgers from Thursday to Saturday. Andrew Heaney will start Thursday's opener from Dodger Stadium, opposite lefty Scott Kazmir. First pitch from Dodger Stadium is 7:10 p.m.