Lacrus, Rangers advance to AZL semifinals

Sherman Lacrus led his team with 25 RBIs during the regular season. On Saturday night, he plated three more runs to help it reach the Arizona League semifinals.

In a back-and-forth battle with the Angels, the 20-year-old catcher helped the Rangers post a 6-5, 10-inning victory.

Lacrus snapped out of a 3-for-25 funk by collecting three hits and scoring twice in his regular-season finale on Wednesday. In the postseason opener, the Curacao native delivered an RBI single in the third to snap a 1-1 tie. The Rangers trailed, 3-2, heading to the ninth but tied the game on a run-scoring single by Elio Castillo and took the lead on Lacrus' two-run single.

The Angels kept their season alive in the bottom of the ninth, but Oliver Caraballo led off the Rangers' 10th with a walk and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by reliever Nick Wagner (0-1).

Cody Palmquist (1-0) tossed scoreless innings to get the win for the Rangers, who will face the Indians on Sunday. Cleveland's AZL affiliate had a first-round bye after posting a league-best 20-5 record in the second half.

In the other quarterfinal, Rayder Ascanio capped a three-RBI night with the go-ahead single in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Mariners edged the Dodgers, 3-2. Hersin Martinez matched Ascanio with a pair of hits for the M's, who will face the Giants in the semifinals.

Ibandel Isabel singled twice, drove in a run and scored once for the Dodgers.