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SURPRISE, Ariz. - Josh Hamilton
has not allowed several nagging injuries to slow him this
spring.
Hamilton hit his third home run
in five days, a towering shot over the stadium's perimeter
fence in right-center field, and the Texas Rangers beat the
Milwaukee Brewers 6-4 Thursday night.
"He's a beast,"
Brewers starter Manny Parra said. "I rushed a little bit
there, left the pitch over the middle and it was
crushed."
The game was played hours after
Rangers manager Ron Washington admitted he used marijuana and
amphetamines during his playing career. On Wednesday, it was
revealed Washington failed a random drug test after using
cocaine last July.
Hamilton hit his first homer of
the spring Sunday and connected for his second Wednesday. In
between, he was hit on the hand by a pitch and had a tooth
removed.
Earlier this spring, Hamilton
missed a week after sustaining a left shoulder bruise when he
dived for a ball during a popup drill.
Hamilton hit the first pitch he
saw, giving the Rangers a 2-0 lead. Texas added another run in
the third and two more in the fifth against Parra, who is
competing Dave Bush for a spot in the Milwaukee rotation.
"Actually I thought I
threw the ball really well," Parra said. "The
mistakes I made were in bad situations where I needed to make
my pitch. But I think I threw the ball better today
execution-wise than I did the last game and the one before
that."
Texas starter Tommy Hunter was
scratched just before the game with a strained rib muscle. He
was diagnosed with a strained left intercostal muscle and will
be evaluated again on Friday.
"I certainly hope it isn't
anything prolonged because there's a lot of competition going
on," Washington said. "The way things are here in
Texasland right now, if you go down you might not have a job
when you get back."
Hunter threw a pair of
changeups that were hanging up in the zone. Rangers pitching
coach Mike Maddux told him to keep the ball down and
"being as smart as I am, I threw another one,"
Hunter said. "This is a freak thing, I guess."
Guillermo Moscoso started in
Hunter's place, allowing two runs on three hits with four
strikeouts, but the pitching star for the Rangers was
left-hander Matt Harrison.
Harrison threw three scoreless
inning, extending his spring scoreless streak to six, before
allowing two runs on two hits in the eighth. He finished with
three hits allowed and eight strikeouts, including five
straight in the sixth and seventh innings.
"He was dealing,"
Washington said.
NOTES: Parra threw 48 of his 68
pitches for strikes. Parra and reliever Marco Estrada combined
to strike out four straight hitters in the fifth and sixth
innings. Bush allowed one run on three hits over five innings
with a walk and five strikeouts in the "B'' game earlier
Thursday. Though the numbers won't count, Harrison matched his
career high for strikeouts.
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