1B Mitch Moreland entered the game to replace Yorvit Torrealba (with Mike Napoli moving from first to catcher) and continued his recent hot streak at the plate. Though only 1-for-4, his one hit was a homer. He also had a sacrifice fly and scored two runs. Moreland is 10-for-33 (.303) with two homers and four RBI in his last 33 at-bats.
RHP Yu Darvish came back from a 1:56 rain delay that hit in the first inning to work into the sixth and pick up his fifth win of the season. Darvish stayed sharp by throwing in an indoor cage every 15 minutes or so during the delay. It might help explain why he seemed to tire in the sixth inning. Darvish is 5-1 with a 2.84 ERA. It ties him for the AL lead in wins with David Price, Jered Weaver, James Shields, CC Sabathia and Derek Lowe.
C Yorvit Torrealba left Friday’s game after the rain delay because of a head contusion. He was hit in the left side of the catcher’s mask on a follow-through by Albert Pujols during a pop out to third base. Torrealba said he checked out fine and will be able to return to the lineup without incident.
SS Elvis Andrus singled in his first at-bat to extend his streak of consecutive games reaching base to 29. It is the longest streak in the majors this season, surpassing the 28-game streak by Curtis Granderson, which ended earlier in the week.
RHP Koji Uehara issued a walk in the eighth inning, ending his string of consecutive innings without a walk at 10 this season. RHP Alexi Ogando is the only Rangers reliever, at 15 2/3 innings, who has yet to issue a walk. Uehara had gone a club-record 28 consecutive outings without a walk, dating to last season.
