Rosales starts at DH for Rangers against Sale

CHICAGO -- Life is finally starting to get back to normal for Adam Rosales.

The Rangers infielder -- who was claimed off waivers three times in an 11-day span -- started at designated hitter in the Rangers' series opener against the White Sox on Friday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

It was Rosales' first start since July 30, and he only had two at-bats in the past two weeks. That wasn't the main reason Rangers manager Ron Washington started Rosales, though, as the manager cited Rosales' career numbers (4-for-7 with a home run) against White Sox starter Chris Sale.

"He's hit pretty well against Sale and I just hope it continues to hold true," Washington said.

The trend did in fact continue, with Rosales hitting a two-run homer off Sale in the second inning and finishing 1-for-3 with three RBIs off the southpaw.

Rosales entered Wednesday's game as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning and eventually scored the game-winning run. So it's been consecutive games of good news for the 30-year-old infielder.

"He certainly had a couple rough weeks, I know," Washington said. "But an opportunity presented itself again and we went and got him. That's one of his skillsets, he can run. And he can play a lot of positions, and I'm glad he's excited to get on the basepaths and score the winning run [Wednesday]."

Washington also said starting Rosales was just about his numbers against Sale and was unrelated to the recent slump of Jurickson Profar, who is hitting .184 (7-for-38) in his last 11 games and .210 (25-for-119) in his last 34.

The switch-hitting Profar has struggled all season against left-handers, batting .194 from the right side. Including Wednesday's series finale against the Astros, the Rangers are in a stretch in which they'll face five straight left-handed starters -- but that doesn't mean Profar is going to be on the bench for the next three games.

"He's still going to play, so I hope that gets better," Washington said.