Cruz's migraine forces unusual outfield alignment

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers opened the second half Friday with an outfield of Jurickson Profar in left, Craig Gentry in center and Leonys Martin in right field against Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen.

That's not an alignment that manager Ron Washington thought about last winter.

"Not once," Washington said.

But the Rangers had to go that way Friday, because Nelson Cruz was dealing with a migraine headache and unavailable to start.

"He wanted to try and wait until game time," Washington said. "But I wasn't going to send him out there and have him get overheated, so I decided to pull him out of the lineup."

Gentry, just activated off the disabled list, played for the first time since pinch-running on June 20. Martin, who normally starts in center, was in right for the seventh time this season. Profar made his fourth start in left, and Washington had him there instead of David Murphy to get an extra right-handed hitter in the lineup against a southpaw starter.

"He certainly hasn't embarrassed himself out there," Washington said. "If the opportunity presents itself, I'm not afraid to run him out there."