Rangers recap: Hamels sharp, DeShields flies in finale over Royals

The Texas Rangers finished the 2016 spring season (in Arizona) the way they started, by beating the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals. The Rangers defeated the Royals 5-1 behind five strong innings from Opening Day starter Cole Hamels in his final spring start. Texas was 5-0 against Kansas City this spring. The Rangers host the Cleveland Indians in the final exhibition games Friday and Saturday at Globe Life Park.

Pitching: Hamels induced nine ground ball outs and struck out five with no walks in five quick innings, finishing with 61 pitches (43 strikes). Tom Wilhelmsen pitched a perfect sixth with two strikeouts while Keone Kela allowed a hit but struck out the side in the seventh.

Hitting: Delino DeShields tripled twice and scored two runs, including in the first inning to give Texas a 1-0 lead. James Jones had two hits, including a triple in the sixth that scored Ryan Cordell. Cordell’s single earlier in the inning scored DeShields after his second triple. Justin Ruggiano hit a solo homer to center field off Royals starter Ian Kennedy in the second inning. It’s his third homer of the spring.

Notable: DeShields has four triples this spring ... Kennedy left before the fourth inning with a tight left hamstring.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Rangers recap: Hamels sharp, DeShields flies in finale over Royals."