Hamstrung.

In a season full of you-gotta-be-kidding-me, Ron Washington apparently pulled a hamstring muscle during this afternoon's Twins Old Timers' Game in Target Field. He took himself out of the game defensively, though he did proceed to take his second at-bat after that (singling off Jack Morris after singling earlier off Bert Blyleven), exiting for a pinch-runner . . . and then reentered the game again, settling in defensively at second base after playing earlier in center field. When Eric Nadel recorded his daily pregame spot with Washington, which aired seconds ago but was taped before the Old Timers' Game got underway, he finished the interview by saying: "Wash, take care of those hamstrings." Funny. Almost. Not as amusing is word from Minneapolis that Josh Hamilton could miss a week, more or less, due to the bruised ribcage he suffered in yesterday's collision with the center field wall, an injury he said this morning makes him "feel like [he's] been in a car wreck." Or reports that Elvis Andrus will miss two or three games with his own hamstring tightness. Cristian Guzman, not Andres Blanco (or Alex Cora), will get the start at shortstop against his former teammates this afternoon (after looking in his first stint with Texas last month like his own invitation to the Twins Old Timers' Game may not be far off). Guzman will also lead off. C.J. Wilson is 11-4, 2.98 in 18 starts following a Rangers loss this season. In his last 12 such starts, Texas has won 11 times (including seven straight). That righty Matt Fox, who virtually shut the Rangers offense down Friday night in his big league debut, permitting two runs over 5.2 innings? Minnesota designated him for assignment this morning, according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, to make room for pinch-runner and defensive sub Ben Revere. Speaking of pinch-runners, Oklahoma City clinched a playoff berth last night (with Albuquerque's loss). Free Willy Taveras. For what it's worth, the RedHawks game notes no longer list Scott Feldman as today's scheduled starter, instead denoting "TBA" for the afternoon assignment. Whether that's because Texas is holding Feldman back in case he's pegged to make Cliff Lee's Tuesday start (Lee was reportedly scratched from that start this morning, once and for all), or for some other reason, it might be interesting to see who takes the ball when that game begins at 4:05. Mark Prior is supposed to make his Oklahoma City debut in relief at some point in that game. Among the baseball things I'm most grateful for: That Oakland traded Carlos Gonzalez (and Huston Street and Greg Smith) to Colorado for Matt Holliday two years ago. Oakland's 2007 trade of Dan Haren and Connor Robertson to Arizona for Gonzalez, Brett Anderson, Chris Carter, Aaron Cunningham, Dana Eveland, and Smith was that club's Teixeira trade, but moving CarGo a year later – who at age 24 is an MVP candidate – did the American League a huge favor. According to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker, the Rangers, Mets, and Rays were among the teams who were on hand to scout 24-year-old Japanese righthander Yu Darvish yesterday. We'll have some more news on this Wednesday evening's Game-Watching Party and Thad Levine Q&A before long. =========================================================== To join the free Newberg Report mailing list so you can get e-mail deliveries of every edition of the newsletter, daily minor league game recaps, and frequent Newberg Report News Flashes, go to www.newbergreport.com and click the "Mailing List" link on the top menu bar. (c) Jamey Newberg http://www.newbergreport.com Twitter @newbergreport