Josh Smith, Jonah Heim Shine as Texas Rangers Fall to Brewers

Nathan Eovaldi was solid in his first start for the Texas Rangers since February, but Cole Ragans took the loss as he gave up all of Milwaukee's runs.

The Texas Rangers lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3, on Friday in Surprise, Ariz. Here’s a breakdown of the game.

Brewers 4, Rangers 3

How the Rangers lost: Cole Ragans had a rough outing in relief and the Rangers only generated three runs of offense.

Records: Milwaukee, 8-10; Texas, 9-12.

Winning pitcher: Gus Varland (1-0, MIL)

Losing pitcher: Cole Ragans (2-1, TEX)

Save: Tyson Miller (1)

Rangers at the plate: Josh Smith, starting at shortstop, struck first offensively with his first spring home run, a leadoff shot in the bottom of the first off Janson Junk.

Catcher Jonah Heim hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth, which scored Ezequiel Duran, who started at third base. Duran doubled earlier in the inning.

But that was where the scoring ended for Texas. The Rangers had seven hits. Both Smith and outfielder Elier Hernandez recorded two each. The Rangers stranded six runners, four of which were in scoring position with two outs and were a collective 1-for-7 with RISP.

Rangers on the mound: Nathan Eovaldi returned to the mound in a Major League spring training game for the first time since Feb. 25. He threw three effective innings and was pulled after facing three hitters in fourth inning. He gave up four hits, struck out five and didn’t allow a run.

Jacob Barnes relieved Eovaldi and cleaned up a one-out, two-base runner mess without incident.

Cole Ragans took over the fifth inning and after a perfect inning, gave up three runs in the sixth to allow the Brewers to tie the game at three a piece. Ragans gave up the tie in the top of the eighth and was relieved by Reyes Moronta. Ragans went 3 1/3 innings, giving up four hits, four runs, two walks and two home runs. He also struck out six.

Jake Latz relieved Moronta in the ninth and threw a scoreless inning.

From the Park

Some tweets from Friday’s game:

Nathan Eovaldi’s fastball was something today:

Nathan Eovaldi had a total of 6 pitches last year that registered 99 mph last year. He's had that many today.

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) March 17, 2023

About those home runs by Josh Smith and Jonah Heim … video or it didn’t happen:

Josh 🤝 Jonah

Jacks pic.twitter.com/OXcr43zZ0H

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) March 17, 2023

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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