Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 48

4D Saturday April 1 2006 wwwstar-telegram com QUOTE OF THE DAY "I don't look at It In that negative frame of mind We don't sit around and say 'The sky is falling' We've got a lot of positive things going on Because we got a guy hurt toward the end of spring not going to be this gloom and doom that people want to get Involved with" Buck Showalter on handling the loss of pitcher Adam Eaton RANGERS NOTES BASEBALL NOTES THE BUZZ 2 Days until Opening Day vs Red Sox 105 Monday Yanks complete pitching rotation The 22-year-old left-hander was released on $500 bond a Lee County (Fla) Jail official said Liriano one of the top prospects was going 56 mph in a 35 mph zone and drifting between lanes early Thursday Cape Coral police spokesman AngelQ Bitsis said yjriano registered a 133 blood-alcohol level he added which is above the legal limit of 08 in Florida Briefly Cardinals: Albert Pujols homered three times connecting once off Pedro Martinez and twice against Victor Zambrano in the 9-6 victory over the Mets Martinez allowed three runs and four hits in four innings White Sox: Jim Thome continued his spring onslaught He had a two-run homer in a 6-3 victory over the Braves and is 12-for-23 (522) in his past six games with seven homers and 11 RBI Twins: Juan Castro was named the starting shortstop for Opening Day while 26-year-old Jason Bartlett who played 74 games at shortstop for the Twins last season was sent to Triple A Astros: Eric Munson officially became the backup catcher when the Orioles claimed Raul Chavez off waivers Munson and Chavez battled in spring training for the spot behind regular catcher Brad Ausmus Mariners: Catcher Guillermo Quiroz was claimed by off waivers from the Blue Jays The 24-year-old played in 12 games with the Blue Jays last season hitting 194 (7-for-36) with four RBI Orioles: Third baseman Melvin Mora met with owner Peter Angelos and said he was optimistic that a contract extension could be done before Opening Day TROM WIRE RrPORTS Yankees manager Joe Torre picked Chien-Ming Wang and Shawn Chacon for the third and fourth spots in New rotation Friday leaving Jaret Wright as the fifth starter and long reliever The Yankees also shut down right-hander Carl Pava-no who already had been scheduled to begin the season on the disabled list because of a back injury Pavano bruised his left buttocks diving for first base while making a play in a minor league game on Tuesday An MRI in Tampa Fla on Thursday was negative Torre said but got some pain and going to be shut down until that pain Schott's 'stuff' auctioned Marge Schott a discerning collector of baseball memorabilia Her stash included common drinking glasses red canvas chairs with Reds logos photos of her St Bernard dogs and bats used by little-known players But more than 500 people signed up to bid at auction of each hoping to take home a memory of the feisty former owner of the Cincinnati Reds The auction took in $142725 for foundation Restaurateur Scott Snow who owns Buffalo Wild Wings stores in Ohio Illinois and Maryland claimed one of the premier items He bid $14950 for one of two available copies of the 1990 World Series trophy Twins' Liriano arrested Minnesota Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano was arrested and charged with drunken driving but his team said he still could begin the season with the club STAR TELEGRAMTOM PENNINGTON Rangers starter Kameron Loe right gave up one run on three hits in four innings Friday in Frisco Loe gives Rangers solid outing in win eligible to be activated as early as April 8 The Rangers have signed right-handed reliever Bryan Corey to a minor league contract A converted infielder Corey has a career minor league record of 50-47 with a 413 ERA The Rangers re-signed right-hander John Wasdin to a minor league contract They had released Wasdin earlier in the week after he cleared waivers Staff writer Kat contributed to this report John Miller (817) 390-7760 hmiller(a)star-telegram com FRIDAY'S BOX SCORE A new surprise After spending the past six weeks in Arizona the Rangers played at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco home of the RoughRiders the Rangers' Double A affiliate Count Buck Showalter as one who was impressed with the minor league park isn't minor league baseball like I remember" Showalter said "This is pretty special What a place We told our guys we were playing an exhibition game in the minor leagues and I don't think they were expecting something this nice The stadium which had 10551 in attendance Friday now includes the Riverbend Sandler Pool Pavilion a three tiered pool and patio area with a waterfall Dr Pepper only After going by Dr PepperSeven-Up Ballpark its first three years the home of the Frisco RoughRiders now has a new name Dr Pepper Ballpark The new name was announced Friday and the new sign in center field was unveiled between the third and fourth innings SPRING BREAK DONTRELLE WILLIS FLORIDA This Florida Marlins are completely different from the team pitcher Don-trelle Willis knew last season During the offseason the core of the team was shipped off and a new manager in former Yankees catcher Joe Girardi installed Willis 24 enters the season as one of the most seasoned veterans on the team which includes five players who have yet to play a major league game Girardi the second-youngest manager in the majors at 41 replaced 75-year-old Jack McKeon What was this off-season like for you with alt the changes going on? It was sad to see those guys go But it's a business Was spring training pretty different for you? Because In the past you were one of the young kids on the team Now you're one of the veterans No I don't really feel like that It was kind of easygoing actually Everybody had their routine going when I came back from the World Baseball Classic It was a good time and everybody did a good job and we played real well Will this team surprise some people with how you do with all the young players that you have? Most definitely I think we're going to go out there and put a good product out there on the field Who are some of the young guys who you think will break out this season? Everybody I really feel like everybody in the situation where we had a lot of slots open for people to win that everybody has something to prove Was there alot more Instruction during this spring training than years past with all the youngsters? Early on But after awhile after everyone got in a routine we knew what manager Joe Girardi wanted and expected from us it was pretty easy How's Joe as a manager? Good He shoots from the hip and is a very honest guy in better shape than all of us so getting a lot of enthusiasm from him How different Is he from Jack McKeon? different sides of the spectrum Obviously Jack do as many things as he wants to because of his age and everything but everyone is the same as far as going out there and playing hard and leaving it on the field Play ball Today: vs Florida Marlins Ameri-quest Field in Arlington KRLD1080 AM RA Dickey vs Jason Vargas 7 05 Sunday: Idle Monday: Opening Day vs Boston Red Sox Ameriquest Field in Arlington KRLD1080 AM Kevin Millwood vs Curt Schilling 1 05 him Miller (817) 7760 ihmillera star telegram com RANGERS 4 MARLINS 1 By JOHN MILLER STAR 1 bLtGRAM STAH WRITFR FRISCO Kameron Loe finished his spring training with a strong outing and the Rangers once again used the long ball to beat Florida 4-1 on Friday at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco Loe starting in the second-to-last spring training game for the Rangers pitched four innings giving up one run on three hits with two walks and hitting two batters He also struck out two feel definitely ready to Loe said got everything accomplished that I needed to in spring training and here He pitched a perfect first inning with two groundouts and a strikeout of Miguel Cabrera The game marked the first time he has gotten out of the first unscathed in three spring starts giving up three combined runs in the first inning of his first two starts Loe got out of a bases-load-ed jam in the third inning getting Cabrera to pop out to second base In the fourth he gave up a solo home run to Mike Jacobs The bullpen was strong with a combination of five relievers each throwing one scoreless inning and giving up a combined three hits and one walk with four strikeouts Fabio Castro who is fighting for one of the remaining bullpen spots pitched a hitless fifth inning with a walk and a strikeout Mark Teixeira continued to finish the spring with a bang hitting a towering two-run homer in the third inning It is the third consecutive game he has hit a home run after not hitting any in his first nine games of spring training He has a six-game hitting streak heading into spring training finale going 8-for-22 (364) during the stretch Brad Wilkerson led off the bottom of the first with a home run his fourth of spring training and David Delucci hit a solo homer in the fourth his fifth of the spring The Rangers have hit 48 home runs in 28 spring training games Briefly If the Florida Marlins had agreed to a November trade with the Rangers then third baseman Hank Blalock would have been in the lineup Friday not in the even cross my Blalock said after batting practice how it The Rangers placed four players on the 15-day disabled list: right-hander Josh Rupe (right elbow inflammation) left-hander CJ Wilson (right hamstring) infielder Marshall McDougall (recovery from wrist surgery) and righthander Frank Francisco (recovery from elbow ligament transplant surgery) All of the DL placements are retroactive to March 24 making them Dave Pittinger left and Bobby Cox peruse the bats available in Friday's auction of late Reds owner Marge Schott's memorabilia Rangers: Newly acquired Koronka to LOB-Florida8 Texas6 2B-A9utla Uggla IKinsler HR- HBP-by Loe (HRamirez) by Loe (Uggla) WP-Castro T-2 35 10 551 had a related injury Rheinecker will probably begin at Triple A Oklahoma Daniels said he sees both Koronka and Rheinecker as starters Both are players the Rangers had inquired about for much of the spring Dominguez soared through the system in 2003 rising from Class A to the major leagues and earning Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors His star fell though mainly for failing to show up on time Daniels said behavioral concerns were not a primary factor is a baseball Daniels said "We like the talent coming back to us As said in the past not a bad person not a malicious person He had some issues of Dominguez Who will likely begin at Sacramento for the THE ASSOCIATED PRESSTOM UHLMAN in rotation THE ASSOCIATED PRESSTONY GUTIE RRf Juan Dominguez rose quickly through the Rangers' minor league system winning Pitcher of the Year In 2003 fill fifth spot lost the competition for the fifth spot in the rotation to RA Dickey this week Dominguez split time between Texas Oklahoma and Double A Frisco last season He was 4-6 with a 422 ERA in 22 games including 10 starts for the Rangers last season gonna be a good Showalter said were at a place where this is a good fit for us and hopefully this is a good fit for The Rangers have not decided how to treat injury but were more optimistic Friday Eaton said Thursday he expected to miss three months and might need surgery By Friday a nonsurgical option was becoming a possibility got a couple of opinions today that were pretty Showalter said kat 0 Hrten (817) Wtf7760 kobnentthstar telegram com have not decided how they will adjust the rest of their schedule behind ace Kevin Millwood fortunate to get somebody of his background this late in the manager Buck Showalter said Rheinecker has been pitching in the bullpen with Oakland and was optioned to Triple A Sacramento earlier this week The 26-year-old went 4-0 with a 177 ERA at Sacramento last season before tearing a tendon in his left middle finger and missing the rest of the season it Alanis Morissette that sang it with the Adam Eaton Daniels said Rheinecker has been throwing his curveball this spring and said it bothered him at all so far 1 think Adam is as far as we can tell the first pitcher CONTINUED FROM ID with what the trade means potentially for the general manager Jon Daniels said it helps the obviously not excited about that I like how it sets up for the Rangers for the immediate future and The Cubs began converting Koronka 25 from a starter to a reliever in the Arizona Fall League and he has pitched exclusively in relief this spring But he has been a starter for the bulk of his career compiling a 439 career ERA in the minor leagues Koronka whom the Rangers briefly had in their system as a Rule draftee in spring 2003 will fly to Arlington today The Rangers plan for Koronka to pitch in a simulated game Sunday and start the fifth game of the season They.