Texas walks off, Odor hits 3 of club's 6 homers

March 26th, 2016

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Bobby Wilson hit a two-run home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning off Brandon Morrow to lift the Rangers to a 12-11 victory over the Padres on Friday night. It was the Rangers' sixth home run of the game.
"The guys were coming in to pitch, you knew they were nervous," Wilson said. "It felt good to finally drive a ball like that."
Rougned Odor hit three home runs for the Rangers, including two off of Padres starter Tyson Ross. Mitch Moreland hit his third home run of the spring and Drew Robinson hit a solo homer in the eighth, also off of Morrow.
Ross, the Padres' Opening Day starter, went 5 2/3 innings and allowed six runs on five hits, two walks and seven strikeouts. His 86 pitches were the most by a Padres pitcher this year.
"The plan was to have me get up and down six times, I accomplished that," Ross said. "I'd like to throw the ball better, but physically, I'm built up, I'm ready to go. I've got one more [start], and then the lights come on in April."
Rangers starter Cole Hamels struggled with his command, going just three innings on 73 pitches. He allowed four runs on five hits, walked three and struck out one. It was only his second start in a Cactus League game and first since March 5. His other three starts were in Minor League games.

"I was just not able to locate early," Hamels said. "You want to get quick outs but when you go to full counts, you've got to let them put the ball in play. Walks will kill you during the season so what transpires when you're getting behind in the count is you throw a pitch over the middle of the plate.
"I'm still trying to create a sharpness with repetition, find the release point and get the feel. I'm able to throw all my pitches. It's finding out where I want to start the ball and where I want them to end up."
The Padres rallied for six runs in the top of the eighth. Minor League infielder Luis Asuncion capped the rally with a two-run home run.
Derek Norris hit his second home run of the spring for the Padres and Matt Kemp had a two-hit game to raise his spring average to .375.
Rangers up next Martin Perez will be on the mound for the Rangers when they play the Rockies at 3:05 p.m. CT on Saturday in Scottsdale. Nick Martinez will also pitch as he tries to win a spot in the Rangers' rotation. He could also earn a spot as a long reliever. Perez, the Rangers' No. 2 starter, has a 4.32 ERA in the Cactus League.
Padres up next James Shields pitches for the Padres when they play the Angels at 1:10 p.m. (PT) Saturday at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Shields has a 6.00 ERA in three A starts this spring. Left-hander Robbie Erlin will be on the mound when the Padres play the Astros at 6:05 p.m. PT on Saturday at Estadio Fray Nano in Mexico City. Erlin has a 1.29 ERA in his three starts.