Washington makes light of outfield mishap

ARLINGTON -- Leonys Martin and Shin-Soo Choo had a fly ball drop between them in left-center field in the fourth inning of Wednesday's 3-2 victory over Seattle.

Television replays showed that Martin was clearly taking charge in center field and calling off Choo, but the outfielders bumped into each other. The ball deflected off Martin's glove, and Mariners catcher Mike Zunino was awarded a hit. Manager Ron Washington joked that it was a case of voice inflection on the part of Martin, who has high-pitched vocals.

"We're trying to work with Leonys on getting some bass in his voice," manager Ron Washington joked Thursday morning. "Then Choo would have heard him. It's just communication, that's all.

"[Leonys] said he was calling it the whole way, but he was at a tenor voice and it was mixing in with the crowd," Washington said. "We've got a speech coach we're bringing in to help him get some bass in his voice."

Martin ended up being the hero of the game for the Rangers with a bloop single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give Texas a 3-2 walk-off win over the Mariners.