ARLINGTON, Texas — Vernon Wells
hit his fourth homer in three games and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied
for three runs in the ninth against closer Frank Francisco to beat the
Texas Rangers 3-1 on Thursday.
Rangers starter C.J. Wilson struck out
nine and allowed five hits over seven innings in his return to the
rotation, but Francisco (0-1) failed in his first save opportunity of
the season.
Francisco gave up a leadoff homer to
Wells, Lyle Overbay followed with a triple and Overbay made it 2-1 when
he scored on Edwin Encarnacion's sacrifice fly.
Rookie Mike McCoy added an RBI single
to make it 3-1 and chase Francisco, who gave up three runs and four hits
while getting only two outs.
Wells, a native of Arlington, became
the first Blue Jays player to homer in each of the first three games of
the season.
Casey Janssen (1-0) struck out the
side in the eighth, and Jason Frasor got three outs for his second save
in three chances as the Blue Jays took two of three from the Rangers.
Wilson moved into the rotation this
spring after pitching out of the bullpen the last four seasons. Wilson
got six starts in 2005, going 0-5 with a 12.05 ERA and an opponents'
batting average of .441.
This time, he was a lot better,
working out of jams in the fifth and sixth and recording his longest
career start.
Wilson and Toronto starter Ricky
Romero matched six shutout innings before the Rangers broke through in
the seventh when David Murphy doubled, went to third on Taylor
Teagarden's groundout, and scored on Romero's wild pitch.
Romero allowed one run and five hits
over seven innings, striking out four and walking two.
Vladimir Guerrero went 3-for-4 for
Texas, making him 7-for-11 (.636) this season.
Earlier Thursday, the Rangers placed
No. 1 catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia on the 15-day disabled list because
of left upper back stiffness.
Texas manager Ron Washington said
Saltalamacchia hurt his back during Monday's season opener against
Toronto, but Saltalamacchia tried to play through the discomfort.
Saltalamacchia had an MRI on Thursday
and was scheduled to be examined by a back specialist later in the day
to determine the severity of the injury.
Teagarden becomes the everyday
catcher, and Texas purchased the contract of Matt Treanor from Triple-A
Oklahoma City to back up Teagarden.
About an hour before the first pitch,
second baseman Aaron Hill was scratched from Toronto's starting lineup
with right hamstring tightness. McCoy started in place of Hill, and
McCoy led off the game with a single for his first big league hit.
Notes
To make room on the 40-man
roster for Treanor, the Rangers transferred RHP Warner Madrigal from the
15- to the 60-day disabled list due to right forearm inflammation. …
Texas LF Josh Hamilton didn't start after going hitless in seven
at-bats, striking out in five straight plate appearances, before walking
as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. "He was out of whack," Washington
said. … 1B Ryan Garko got his first start for Texas. … Encarnacion
singled in the fifth after starting the season 0-for-7.