A.J. Griffin pitches strong into the sixth as Rangers beat Rockies

Joey Gallo returned to the lineup for the first time since March 19 and led the Rangers to a 4-3 win over the Rockies at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Gallo was 2 for 4 with as double, homer and two RBIs.

How Rangers pitchers fared: A.J. Griffin worked around trouble in multiple innings but held the Rockies to two runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings. Mike Hauschild took over in the sixth and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. He allowed three hits, a walk and struck out three. Alex Claudio allowed a run on two hits in the ninth but earned the save.

How Rangers hitters fared: The Rangers scored three times in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. Delino DeShields led off with a bloop double to center field, followed by a run-scoring single through the right side by Drew Robinson. Gallo followed with a double to the right-field corner to score Robinson. Gallo scored on Jose Trevino’s single through the left side. DeShields, Robinson and Trevino all joined Gall with two hits.

Notables: DeShields improved his team-leading on-base percentage to .451, fifth best in the majors this spring ... DeShields leads the majors with 12 steals (in 12 tries) and is tied for the league lead with 14 walks.

This story was originally published March 28, 2017 at 5:22 PM with the headline "A.J. Griffin pitches strong into the sixth as Rangers beat Rockies."