McGuiness makes Major League debut

TORONTO -- Chris McGuiness made his Major League debut for Friday's series opener against the Blue Jays, batting eighth in the Rangers' order and playing first base. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the 6-1 loss.

The 25-year-old, who was called up by Texas from Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday after the club placed Mitch Moreland on the 15-disabled list with a right hamstring strain, had an idea he would be summoned to the big club but tried not to think about it.

McGuiness had just finished eating dinner and was getting ready to pack for the Express' road trip in Iowa when Bobby Jones, the manager of Round Rock, phoned him. After joking around for a bit, Jones broke the news to him.

"I couldn't believe it," McGuiness said. "That's a phone call you wait on for your whole life."

He then placed calls to his family and sat back to soak in what he described as a "whirlwind" moment before gathering his stuff and making arrangements to join the Rangers in Boston on Thursday.

While he understands there will be some emotions when he takes the field for the first time and records his first Major League at-bat, he said he will try to apply the advice he received from Rangers manager Ron Washington.

"Don't let the whole Major Leagues speed up on me," McGuiness said. "It's the same game. Obviously it's the next step up, but I'll just try to go out there and slow things down.

"I talked to Ron Washington and he said, 'Don't come out here and try to do too much. You're here and we need you to be you and play the game the right way.' And that's what I'm going to try to do."

McGuiness, who hit .275 with six homers and 34 RBIs in 55 games with Round Rock, will have his parents and fiance in attendance for the entire three-game set in Toronto.