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Rosales pitches in to save bullpen

Infielder becomes Rangers' ninth position player to take hill

TORONTO -- Until the eighth inning of the Rangers' 12-2 loss to the Blue Jays on Friday, it'd been about a decade since Adam Rosales last pitched. But the Texas infielder was called into action with the game out of reach in the series opener, becoming the ninth position player in club history to take the mound, and the first since JP Arencibia did it in August 2014.

"Never thought I'd pitch in a Major League game," Rosales said after the Rangers dropped their sixth game in a row.

The score already at 11-2, Rangers manager Jeff Banister didn't want to get anyone else in the bullpen up, so he turned to Rosales -- who's now played every position except catcher, right field and center field -- to eat an inning. It was the first time Rosales pitched since his senior year at Western Michigan University, when he was called into action under similar circumstances.

After retiring the always-dangerous Josh Donaldson, Rosales surrendered a pinch-hit homer to Danny Valencia on an 82-mph changeup. Rosales said he was just firing straight pitches without anything on them.

Video: TEX@TOR: Valencia crushes solo homer to left field

"We were watching Valencia in batting practice, and I don't think he hit one that stayed in the park," said Rosales, who'd go on to retire Edwin Encarnacion and Ryan Goins to end the inning. "I think he was just destined to hit one tonight."

Banister said that while not an ideal situation, Rosales gave him an important inning when considering the rest he afforded the bullpen.

"It was unselfish on his part to go out there and do something he'd never done before," Banister said.

Jamie Ross is an associate reporter for MLB.com.
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