DENVER — Mitch Moreland collected his fifth consecutive pinch hit Tuesday, an eighth-inning single, but that was the least interesting part of his evening.
The veteran first baseman took the mound in the bottom of the eighth with the Rangers trailing the Rockies by 11 runs. He retired three consecutive batters, and Colorado completed a 12-1 win.
Moreland became the sixth position player to pitch for the Rangers, making the seventh such appearance in franchise history. The last position player to take the mound for Texas was David Murphy on June 4, 2013, at Boston.
Moreland threw 15 pitches, 10 strikes, while getting Jordan Pacheco and Corey Dickerson to fly to right and Charlie Blackmon to hit a comebacker.
A closer at Mississippi State, Moreland made only one other professional pitching appearance before Tuesday. In 2008 at low Class A Clinton, he pitched two scoreless innings in two games.
Moreland hit 94 mph with his fastball Tuesday and ranged from 90-94 mph with the pitch. He said manager Ron Washington told him to throw only fastballs, but Moreland, trying to maximize his opportunity, said he threw a changeup to Blackmon. What Moreland didn’t do was ice his arm afterward.
“It’s been 2008 since I pitched last,” Moreland said, “so the way it’s going, I think I’ll have a little time to recover.”