Rangers Notes: Profar’s Heroics Cap Series Win over Royals

Jurickson Profar follows through on his two-out, go-ahead homer in the eighth inning Sunday, leading Texas to a 3-1 win over Kansas City.

Twenty-year-old infielder Jurickson Profar continued to exhibit a flair for the dramatic on Sunday, connecting for what turned out to be a game-winning home run in the bottom of the eighth and helping the Rangers take two of three weekend games from the visiting Royals.

What was supposed to be a five-game homestand for Texas was truncated when last Wednesday’s contest versus Arizona was rained out, with a makeup date yet to be announced.

The following afternoon, the Rangers snapped their season-long three-game losing streak with a 9-5 victory over the Diamondbacks. Starter Justin Grimm went six quality frames while former Texas right-hander Brandon McCarthy was rocked for six earned runs in less than three full innings.

A weary Kansas City club arrived in Arlington just hours after completing a Thursday night comeback win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, which ended the Royals’ eight-game losing skid but underwent a lengthy rain delay and did not finish until after 3 a.m. Friday morning.

The series opener at Rangers Ballpark saw left-hander Derek Holland strike out eight batters across seven innings for Texas while his teammates scored four runs in the bottom of the third off Wade Davis, three coming on Nelson Cruz’s line-drive homer deep into left field.

Leonys Martin padded the Rangers’ lead with a two-run double in the sixth and Adrian Beltre connected for his 11^th home run of the season one inning later, helping Texas cruise to a 7-2 victory.

On Saturday, Nick Tepesch battled Royals starter James Shields into the seventh before departing with the game tied at 1-1, which remained the score as Neal Cotts, Tanner Scheppers and Joe Nathan each made shutout relief appearances.

In the top of the tenth, however, southpaw Robbie Ross allowed consecutive singles to Alcides Escobar and Eric Hosmer, then intentionally walked Billy Butler to set up a potential force play at home plate.

Although he fanned the next two batters, Ross then hit David Lough with a pitch to drive in Escobar as the go-ahead run, and George Kottaras followed with a two-run double that sealed a 4-1 win for Kansas City.

Sunday’s rubber match featured another 1-1 tie late in the game after the Royals — who had been shut out for seven innings by Yu Darvish — scored in the top of the eighth against Neal Cotts.

Kansas City reliever J.C. Gutierrez replaced Ervin Santana on the mound, and he was one strike away from tossing a scoreless frame when Jurickson Profar tagged a go-ahead home run into the right-field stands to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

David Murphy later added an RBI single before closer Joe Nathan tossed a perfect ninth inning as Texas held on for the 3-1 win.

Ogando Set to Return Wednesday

Making his way back from right biceps tendinitis, Alexi Ogando threw 60 pitches in a rehab outing for Double-A Frisco on Friday and is expected to re-join the Rangers’ starting rotation this Wednesday in Boston.

Ogando, who allowed a pair of unearned runs over six innings for the RoughRiders Friday versus Tulsa, has been on the disabled list since May 16.

In nine starts for Texas this season, the Dominican right-hander produced a 4-2 record with an earned run average of 3.08 spanning 49 and two-thirds innings of work.

Veteran Teahen Released by Texas

On Monday, the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate released corner infielder Mark Teahen, who had been signed to a minor-league contract by Texas late last month.

The 31-year-old Teahen enjoyed some productive seasons with Kansas City but has not seen action in the majors since 2011, when he batted just .200 in a combined 78 games for the White Sox and Blue Jays.

At Triple-A Round Rock, Teahen went 6-for-35 (.171) in 10 games for the Express with one run scored and 11 strikeouts.

Rangers Notes: McClung Signed to Minor-League Contract

Seth McClung has put together a 26-34 record with an ERA of 5.46 in seven big-league seasons for the Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers.

While the Rangers are still hoping to offset the departure of Cliff Lee via a trade or the free agent market, it was announced Saturday that the team had signed right-hander Seth McClung to a minor-league deal with an invitation to big-league camp. According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter), “He’ll get a look as a starter in spring training.”

The 29-year-old McClung was released by Florida on March 30 and has not pitched in the majors since 2009, when he went 3-3 with a 4.94 earned run average in 41 appearances for the Brewers. A fifth-round draft pick of the Rays in 1999, McClung has a career record of 26-34 across seven seasons with Tampa Bay and Milwaukee.

Outfielder Endy Chavez and infielder Brian Barden were also signed to minor-league contracts, and both received invitations to major-league spring training camp as well.

Chavez, 32, is working his way back from right knee surgery and spent last season in the Texas minor-league system, seeing limited action for three affiliates in June and July. A career .270 batter across nine seasons, Chavez is currently playing with Magallanes in the Venezuelan Winter League.

Barden, 29, hit .353 with 14 doubles and 23 RBIs last year for Triple-A New Orleans in the Marlins’ organization. In April 2009, Barden was named the National League Rookie of the Month while playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Team Adds Three International Players

On Thursday, the Rangers announced the signings of three players from three different countries to minor-league contracts for next season, and each will be in minor-league camp during spring training.

Right-hander Yhency Brazoban, who pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2004 to 2008, began this season in the Mexican League before being signed by the Mets on Aug. 14, and he finished the year with Triple-A Buffalo. In 2005, Brazoban led the Dodgers with 21 saves in 74 games, but he was limited to 9 and 2/3 innings across 11 big-league appearances over the next three seasons.

Hirotoshi Onaka, a switch-hitting outfielder who has spent the last four years at International Pacific University in Japan, was also signed by Texas to a minor-league deal. In 75 games, the 22-year-old Onaka batted .327 (92-for-281) with five home runs and 36 runs batted in.

The Rangers also signed 18-year-old Dutch middle infielder Nick Urbanus, who is currently playing for the Hoofdklasse club L&D Amsterdam Pirates and is expected to join the team’s rookie-level Arizona Summer League affiliate next June.

Francoeur to Royals; Harden, McCarthy Sign with A’s

Outfielder Jeff Francoeur became the first position player from the 2010 Rangers to sign with a new club when he agreed to a one-year deal with the Kansas City Royals on Monday. In 15 regular-season games with Texas, Francoeur batted .340 with two home runs, nine runs scored and 11 RBIs.

In addition, right-handers Rich Harden and Brandon McCarthy each signed one-year contracts with the Oakland Athletics this week. Harden, who began his career with the A’s, went 5-5 with an earned run average of 5.58 for the Rangers this year, while McCarthy posted a 13-15 record with a 4.68 ERA across parts of three seasons in Texas.

Rangers Notes: Team Weighs Free-Agent Options

Third baseman Adrian Beltre (left) and catcher Victor Martinez could both be attractive free-agent options for the Rangers this offseason.

Baseball’s free-agent shopping season officially began on Sunday, and the Rangers may look to add upgrades at several positions, in addition to trying to re-sign ace left-hander Cliff Lee.

The area which is in need of the most improvement seems to be catcher, where youngsters Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez were either injured or failed to produce at the big-league level this year, giving way to veterans Matt Treanor and Bengie Molina before the season’s halfway point. The team would clearly like to have a consistent No. 1 catcher for an entire season, and the free-agent market provides options in the form of John Buck, Victor Martinez, A.J. Pierzynski and Yorvit Torrealba, to name a few.

General manager Jon Daniels tried to add a right-handed-hitting first baseman before this year’s trade deadline but could only muster Jorge Cantu, who batted .235 with just two runs batted in and 19 strikeouts in 30 regular-season games with Texas. While Mitch Moreland performed well after his mid-season call-up (nine home runs and 25 RBIs, including a team-high .462 batting average in the World Series), the Rangers are still seeking a right-handed bat to complement him at first. Choices among this year’s group of free agents include Paul Konerko, Troy Glaus, Derrek Lee and Ty Wigginton.

Across the infield, Michael Young is closer to a defensive liability than an asset at third base, and a move to designated hitter may not be too far off. Among free-agent third basemen this offseason, the bar is set high with Adrian Beltre – who hit .321 with 28 home runs and 102 RBIs for the Red Sox this year – but then falls off drastically with the likes of Pedro Feliz, Akinori Iwamura and Nick Punto.

Whether or not Cliff Lee decides to re-sign with Texas, the team will likely try to add depth to its starting pitching rotation, where the only guaranteed spots for next season appear to belong to left-hander C.J. Wilson and right-hander Colby Lewis. Topping this year’s list of free-agent starters are right-handers Jon Garland, Brandon Webb and Chris Young and left-handers Erik Bedard, Jorge De La Rosa and Jeff Francis.

In other news, the Rangers announced Friday that they had outrighted three players off of the 40-man roster – infielder Esteban German and right-handers Doug Mathis and Brandon McCarthy – making them all free agents. The moves brought the number of players currently on the team’s 40-man roster to 31, not including three right-handed pitchers still on the 60-day disabled list: Omar Beltre, Eric Hurley and Guillermo Moscoso.

Rangers Notes: Smoak Debuts, Doubles for First Hit

First baseman Justin Smoak doubled off Detroit’s Jeremy Bonderman for his first major-league hit.

Less than two years after being taken by the Rangers in the first round of the 2008 draft, first baseman Justin Smoak was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City and made his major-league debut Friday against Detroit, when he became the first player in club history to get walked twice in his first game.

On Monday, Smoak recorded his first career hit with a double off Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Prior to the call-up, Smoak was hitting .300 with two home runs and a .470 on-base percentage for the RedHawks.

Both shortstop Elvis Andrus and center fielder Julio Borbon have responded well since being swapped in the batting order a week ago by manager Ron Washington. Andrus, now hitting leadoff, has scored six runs while drawing nine of his team-high 14 walks since the change, and Borbon has gone 8-for-25 batting ninth in the lineup.

On Tuesday, T.R. Sullivan reported that right fielder Nelson Cruz is headed to the disabled list with a strained right hamstring. After stealing three bases last week in Boston, Cruz has been pulled from three games with tightness in the hamstring. Outfielder Craig Gentry was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to replace Cruz on the active roster.

Second baseman Ian Kinsler has begun a rehab assignment with the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders following a right ankle injury he sustained in spring training. Kinsler is expected to play all four games of Frisco’s home series with the San Antonio Missions and could re-join the Rangers on their upcoming road trip to Seattle and Oakland.

Meanwhile, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia is still recovering from the tightness in his back and left shoulder that sent him to the disabled list after the first game of the season. Saltalamacchia has been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City for about a week, though general manager Jon Daniels has indicated the team won’t bring him back up until he is 100 percent healthy.

While Kinsler and Saltalamacchia should both return to the lineup soon, however, right-handed pitcher Brandon McCarthy was placed on the disabled list at Triple-A Oklahoma City Monday after being diagnosed with another stress fracture in his right shoulder. This is the third time in four years with the Rangers that McCarthy has missed playing time due to similar fractures in the same shoulder.

Rangers Notes: Cactus League Update No. 3

Scott Feldman earned the nod as the Rangers' Opening Day starter with 10 strikeouts and a 2.94 ERA in 15 and 1/3 innings this spring.

The Rangers announced Saturday that right-hander Scott Feldman will be the team’s Opening Day starter next Monday against the Toronto Blue Jays. He will be followed in the rotation by right-hander Rich Harden and left-hander C.J. Wilson.

Right-hander Colby Lewis and left-hander Matt Harrison will start the first two games of the series against the Seattle Mariners to round out the Texas rotation. Left-hander Derek Holland and right-hander Brandon McCarthy will each begin the season at Triple-A Oklahoma City while right-hander Tommy Hunter continues to recover from a strained rib cage muscle.

With Wilson moving into the starting rotation, another spot in the Texas bullpen is up for grabs. The only pitchers who appear to have guaranteed spots in the bullpen are left-hander Darren Oliver and right-handers Neftali Feliz, Frank Francisco and Chris Ray.

And while the Rangers remain hopeful that second baseman Ian Kinsler will return from a high ankle sprain in time for Opening Day, the team has acquired two more backup infield candidates in the last week. On Wednesday, Texas traded right-handed pitcher Edwar Ramirez to Oakland for infielder Gregorio Petit before acquiring shortstop Andres Blanco from the Cubs Saturday for cash or a player to be named later.