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: Young Dealt to Phillies for Prospects

Infielder Michael Young leaves Texas as the club’s career leader in many offensive categories, including at-bats, runs, doubles and triples.

Michael Young’s 12-year tenure with the Rangers’ organization came to an end on Saturday afternoon when the veteran infielder was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for right-handed pitchers Josh Lindblom and Lisalverto Bonilla, as well as cash considerations.

Young, the franchise’s all-time leader in hits (2,230), games played (1,823), doubles (415) and triples (55) — among other categories — had to waive his no-trade clause in order for the deal to go through. As part of his compensation for waiving the clause, Young receives $1.2 million in benefits from Texas.

In addition, the Rangers will also pay Philadelphia more than half of the $16 million worth of salary owed next season to Young, who spent a few days considering his options before making his decision.

“This is a very, very tough situation, with Michael being with the Rangers for 12 years,” manager Ron Washington told the media via teleconference on Sunday.

“It’s something that we will sorely miss. We tried to do whatever we could to make it a good situation for Michael. If there was crying in baseball, I’d certainly cry.”

In all likelihood, Young will replace free agent Placido Polanco as the Phillies’ everyday third baseman, joining an expensive infield that already includes Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.

His position in the Texas infield had been affected first by the emergence of shortstop Elvis Andrus in 2009, then by the acquisition of perennial Gold Glover Adrian Beltre at third base in 2011.

Over the past two seasons, much of Young’s playing time was spent as the Rangers’ designated hitter, with occasional starts to fill in for Beltre, second baseman Ian Kinsler or first baseman Mitch Moreland as injuries and pitching matchups dictated.

“I wanted to go,” Young said Monday. “I don’t mean that to be harsh, it was just a great opportunity in Philly, having the opportunity to go from one great team to another one. I was pleased with the role [the Phillies] outlined for me. I was ready for a different challenge. I wanted to push myself.”

Regular playing time in the Texas infield looks to dwindle even more going forward, as both Andrus and Beltre have top-rated prospects waiting behind them at their respective positions in Jurickson Profar and Mike Olt.

As for the Rangers’ return in the deal, Lindblom, 25, is a career National Leaguer who split last season between Los Angeles and Philadelphia, while the 22-year-old Bonilla made a combined 31 relief outings for the Phillies’ High-A and Double-A affiliates.

Greinke off the Radar following Deal with Dodgers

Coveted free-agent starter Zack Greinke will remain in Southern California next season, but the former Angel will be wearing Dodger blue after signing a six-year contract with Los Angeles over the weekend worth a total of $147 million.

Greinke, 29, was one of the Rangers’ top offseason priorities as they look to solidify the front end of their rotation, and reports from the winter meetings last week indicated that the Dodgers felt they had lost out on him while some believed “he was leaning toward the Texas Rangers.”

Having missed in its latest attempt to land Greinke — and having watched a potential trade target dealt away when Kansas City acquired James Shields from the Rays — Texas may now be left to comb through the otherwise thin free-agent market for a starting pitcher.

Whiteside Claimed off Waivers from Toronto

The Rangers on Wednesday added another option behind the plate when they acquired catcher Eli Whiteside on a waiver claim from the Blue Jays, marking the third time this offseason that the 33-year-old backstop has switched teams.

After spending parts of the last five seasons in the San Francisco organization, Whiteside was claimed off waivers by the Yankees in November before getting picked up by Toronto earlier this month.

Whiteside joins Luis Martinez and Konrad Schmidt as catchers on the 40-man roster who will look to compete for playing time behind starting backstop Geovany Soto next spring.

Also Wednesday, corner infielder/outfielder Brandon Snyder was re-signed to a minor-league deal by Texas that includes an invitation to big-league camp. Snyder had been one of three players who were non-tendered by the Rangers late last month.

Rangers Notes: Prospect Profar Makes Immediate Impact

Jurickson Profar crosses the plate after homering in his first career at-bat Sunday versus the Indians.

Nineteen-year-old infielder Jurickson Profar was called up when active rosters expanded on Sept. 1, and the following day became the youngest Texas player to hit a home run when he connected for a solo shot off Cleveland’s Zach McAllister in his first big-league at-bat.

Profar started at second base and went 2-for-4 in his major-league debut, later adding a double and helping the Rangers to an 8-3 victory in the rubber game of their series with the Indians at Progressive Field.

“I guess it’s a pretty big thing,” Profar said following the game, in which he passed Ivan Rodriguez (19 years, 276 days) as the youngest Ranger to hit a home run (19 years, 195 days). “I was a little bit nervous, but I’m with a lot of great players, so I just went out and played.”

Adrian Beltre had continued his hot hitting on Friday with two doubles and two singles against Cleveland, paving the way for a 5-3 Texas victory, before the Indians evened the series with four first-inning runs off Scott Feldman as part of their 4-3 win Saturday.

The Rangers then moved to Kansas City for a four-game set at Kauffman Stadium, where Geovany Soto clubbed an early three-run homer on Labor Day while Yu Darvish worked seven quality frames as Texas doubled up the Royals by an 8-4 final.

Recent trade acquisition Jeremy Guthrie won his fourth straight decision for Kansas City on Tuesday, 6-3, but the Rangers came back with one-run victories both Wednesday and Thursday to secure another series win.

Wednesday saw Adrian Beltre hit a three-run home run in the first inning before Ryan Dempster and the Texas bullpen combined to hold off a late charge and beat the Royals, 7-6, and Michael Young drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth on Thursday to wrap up a 4-3 Rangers victory.

The next stop for Texas was St. Petersburg, Florida, where the Rangers went into extra innings for the second day in a row Friday only to watch the Rays’ Ben Zobrist deliver a two-run walk-off homer against reliever Mark Lowe in the eleventh.

Saturday evening featured a third consecutive extra-inning affair for Texas, as Jurickson Profar made his second career start and singled off Kyle Farnsworth in the top of the tenth to drive in the eventual game-winning run, later scoring himself as the Rangers held on for a 4-2 victory.

Thoughts of a series win versus Tampa Bay were put to rest quickly Sunday, however, when B.J. Upton went deep on the first pitch thrown by Texas spot starter Roy Oswalt, then added two more home runs to lead James Shields and the Rays to a 6-0 shutout.

Ross to DL; Perez, Scheppers among Call-Ups

Along with Jurickson Profar, the Rangers added five other players when active rosters expanded from 25 to 40 at the beginning of September, though they also lost a key bullpen piece as southpaw Robbie Ross was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left forearm strain.

Whereas Profar had his contract purchased from Double-A Frisco, the other five roster additions have seen big-league service time this year and were recalled from Triple-A Round Rock: left-hander Martin Perez, right-handers Tanner Scheppers and Yoshinori Tateyama, infielder Brandon Snyder and outfielder Leonys Martin.

In addition, Texas placed left-hander Miguel De Los Santos on release waivers Friday in order to make room for Profar on the 40-man roster. De Los Santos had gone 3-2 with a 5.22 ERA in 26 games for the RoughRiders this season.

(UPDATE: The 24-year-old De Los Santos has been claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers, it was reported Sunday.)

Rangers Notes: Napoli Finds Stroke versus Angels, Red Sox

Mike Napoli broke out of an extended slump with two home runs and a walk on Saturday in Anaheim.

Texas dropped two of three games against the Los Angeles Angels over the weekend before taking two of three from the visiting Boston Red Sox this week in Arlington.

Derek Holland was touched for six earned runs on nine hits Friday as the second-place Halos cruised to a 6-1 win over Texas, with Mark Trumbo and rookie Mike Trout each homering off Holland in the Los Angeles victory.

On Saturday, Yu Darvish struck out 11 batters across seven innings pitched while Mike Napoli continued to haunt his former club with a pair of home runs, leading the Rangers to a 9-2 victory.

Sunday’s nationally-televised finale saw Los Angeles score three early runs against Matt Harrison and pull away with three more in the seventh — including homers from Bobby Wilson and Albert Pujols — on the way to a 7-4 win to clinch the weekend series.

Texas returned home Monday only to learn that Opening Day starter Colby Lewis will miss the remainder of the season because of a torn flexor tendon in his throwing elbow. Lewis, 32, is scheduled to have Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on Friday, and the timetable for his recovery is nine to 12 months.

Meanwhile, Monday’s probable starter — Roy Oswalt — was scratched due to back stiffness, but Scott Feldman filled in capably by tossing seven frames of one-run ball as the Rangers rode a pair of big innings to a 9-1 win over Boston.

Twenty-one-year-old southpaw Martin Perez started in place of Lewis on Tuesday and held the Red Sox to a lone run across six quality innings pitched, only to see Mike Aviles snap a 1-1 tie with a go-ahead RBI single off Joe Nathan in the top of the ninth.

In Wednesday’s rubber game, Derek Holland improved greatly on his previous outing as he scattered five hits and recorded seven strikeouts while lasting into the eighth inning. By that point, Texas had already scored the decisive run on a wild pitch by Josh Beckett en route to a 5-3 series-clinching victory.

Though he sat out Wednesday’s finale, Mike Napoli went 6-for-16 (.375) in five games against the Angels and Red Sox with three home runs, four RBIs and five walks. Over his previous 26 games, by contrast, Napoli had gone just 13-for-88 (.148) with three runs batted in and 33 strikeouts.

Phillies Extend Hamels; Greinke, Johnson Remain Targets

One of the Rangers’ potential trade targets was taken off the market this week when left-hander Cole Hamels was signed by Philadelphia to a six-year contract extension worth $144 million on Wednesday.

Hamels was just one of several pitchers who had drawn interest from Texas in light of the long-term injuries to starters Neftali Feliz and Colby Lewis. Among the others are the Cubs’ Ryan Dempster, the Brewers’ Zack Greinke, Miami’s Josh Johnson and Tampa Bay’s James Shields.

In the interim, the Rangers have been using Scott Feldman and Martin Perez to fill the vacant rotation spots, although versatile reliever Alexi Ogando remains an option should Texas decide to stretch him out into a starter.

(UPDATE: Greinke is no longer on the trade market either as he was dealt Friday from Milwaukee to the Los Angeles Angels.)

Torrealba Returns with a Bang

Catcher Yorvit Torrealba was re-instated from the paternity leave list prior to Saturday’s game against Los Angeles, and he proceeded to go 3-for-5 with a solo home run off Halos starter Ervin Santana in his return.

Torrealba, who turned 34 last week, had been away from the club for four days while his wife gave birth to the couple’s second child in Venezuela.

To clear a roster spot for Torrealba, backstop Luis Martinez was optioned down to Triple-A Round Rock after seeing action in just one game but receiving no at-bats for the Rangers.

Rangers Notes: Offense Backs Wilson in 6-0 Win

Ian Kinsler follows through on his fourth-inning home run Thursday against Tampa Bay starter James Shields.

In the first postseason start of his career, left-hander C.J. Wilson allowed just two hits across 6 and 1/3 innings Thursday to lead Texas to a 6-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. The Rangers won both games on the road against Tampa Bay and now have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League Division Series.

The Rangers pounded out nine hits in support of Wilson, including a solo home run by second baseman Ian Kinsler and a three-run shot by third baseman Michael Young. Young’s home run came one pitch after he was ruled to have checked his swing on a 2-2 offering from Rays reliever Chad Qualls, and Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon was subsequently ejected for arguing the call.

Catcher Matt Treanor became just the 16^th player in major league history to be hit by a pitch twice in one postseason game Thursday when he was plunked in consecutive at-bats by Rays right-hander James Shields. After being hit by a pitch to lead off the third inning, Treanor advanced to second on a fielder’s choice, to third on an infield single, and came home on an error by Shields to score the Rangers’ first run of the game.

Texas will have a chance to win a playoff series for the first time in franchise history when it hosts Tampa Bay Saturday for Game 3 of the ALDS. Right-hander Colby Lewis is set to face off against Rays right-hander Matt Garza at 4 p.m. at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.