Texas Rangers at Mariners: March 1, 2011 game thread

Nate Robertson is fighting for a job in the starting rotation and the veteran southpaw had a pretty good first inning. Dustin Ackley booted a grounder by the speedy Julio Borbon to start things off, but the play was ruled an infield hit. Robertson rallied after that and fanned both Esteban German and David Murphy. Borbon was running on the strikeout pitch to Murphy and was thrown out at second to complete an inning-ending double-play. A late scratch for the Rangers today sees Taylor Teagarden replacing Yorvit Torrealba behind the plate. Torrealba apparently suffered back spasms while stretching pre-game. This is a pretty poor-looking lineup trotted out by the Rangers. It bears zero resemblance to the team that won the AL pennant last season. Read more...