The Rangers were caught in a little white lie Tuesday afternoon. By the evening, it paled in comparison to their bigger headache: the future of Hank Blalock.
Blalock, it turns out, does not have an upset stomach as was initially reported. The diagnosis was revised to shoulder inflammation. It developed within a week after Blalock returned to third base following a three-month stint on the disabled list. He received a cortisone injection and won't resume baseball activities for a week. Whether he returns to third base this season or to the Rangers beyond 2008 is now very much up in the air.
Blalock has already undergone three surgeries on his right wrist and shoulder over the past two years and agreed earlier this season to give up the rigors of playing third base.
He missed half of last season and did not play third base after May 15 because of condition that required the removal of a rib. He has already spent three months on the DL this season due to a hamstring strain and surgery to repair carpal tunnel syndrome. The Rangers hold an option on Blalock for 2009, but they could decline it for $250,000 in severance.
"I think it's too early to say anything about his future at third," general manager Jon Daniels said. "Obviously, it's a concern, but he'll see the doctor, get treatments and then we'll see."
The Rangers were caught having to do some awkward explaining after Blalock announced Tuesday afternoon that it was his shoulder and not his stomach that was bothering him. After Blalock was scratched from Monday's lineup, manager Ron Washington said it was due to an upset stomach.
When asked about his stomach Tuesday, Blalock said it was his shoulder that had been a problem, that it started bothering him last Friday in Oakland and that it got progressively worse.
"I thought it was just real sore," Blalock said before Tuesday's game. "I had a hard time getting through the game on Sunday. I had a lot of pain behind my shoulder."
RANGERS 11, MARINERS 10: 3B Ramon Vazquez atoned for perhaps the worst defensive game of his career with a two-run, walk-off double in the ninth inning Tuesday to cap a wild game that saw the Rangers blow a seven-run lead. Vazquez committed three errors, the second time he's committed three errors in a game in his career. The last of those errors allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score in the top of the ninth. After consecutive singles by Marlon Byrd and Chris Davis and a fielder's choice bunt attempt by Gerald Laird, Vazquez drove a ball into the gap in right center. Both Davis and Laird scored. It was Vazquez's second walk-off hit of the season.
