SAN ANTONIO – Derek Holland should go into his next start with some momentum.
The Texas left-hander, who will start Friday's home opener against Los Angeles, closed his spring with four scoreless innings Saturday in a 5-2 victory over San Diego at the Alamodome.
Holland needed just 57 pitches to get through the four innings and threw 44 of them for strikes. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter while allowing four hits.
Now it's on to the Angels for Holland.
"It's a huge honor for me," Holland said. "It's the closest thing for me to Opening Day. We're definitely going to have a good crowd behind us and it's definitely going to be a big game too with Anaheim coming to town."
Holland's final two spring starts came against the Padres and he struck out 13 in 10 innings and walked just one. Working on his control was a priority for Holland this spring and he's happy to see the work has paid off.
"The main thing was to finish strong," Holland said. "I feel great. I got a couple of big games in (with Team USA in World Baseball Classic). Overall I felt everything was the same. I think I'm prepared and ready for the season."
Behind Holland's start the Rangers capped their spring with a 17-17-2 record. They did so in front of 40,569 at the Alamodome, putting the attendance for the two-game series at more than 75,000.
Leury Garcia, the team's utility infielder this season, took advantage of the 285-foot wall in right and hit a three-run homer.
