Former closer C.J. Wilson throws 5 no-hit innings, Murphy homers as Rangers beat Royals 2-1

Wilson throws 5 no-hit innings for Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers closer-turned-starter C.J. Wilson is ready for his first regular-season start since his rookie season five years ago.

Wilson threw five no-hit innings with four strikeouts in the left-hander’s final spring training tuneup Friday night to help Texas beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 at Rangers Ballpark.

David Murphy hit a two-run homer for the Texas in the seventh off Joakim Soria, three innings after knocking Royals starter Luke Hochevar out of the game with a hard hit up the middle.

Hochevar didn’t return for the start of the fifth after a ball hit by Murphy ricocheted off his left ankle ending the fourth. The ball rolled toward first baseman Billy Butler, who picked it up and tagged Murphy for the third out.

The Royals said Hochevar had a bruised left ankle.

Kansas City didn’t have a hit until Jose Guillen’s two-out double in the seventh off Willie Eyre. Mitch Maier followed with an RBI triple into the left-field corner for a 1-0 lead.

The only hit Hochevar allowed was an infield single to leadoff hitter Julio Borbon in the first. The right-hander struck out one and walked one five days after giving up six runs and nine hits in five innings his previous start.

Wilson finished the spring with a 4.18 ERA in six appearances, including four starts.

As a Rangers rookie in 2005, after missing all of the previous year recovering from Tommy John ligament transplant surgery, Wilson made six starts among his 24 appearances during his four major league stints.

Wilson became a full-time reliever after that, and was the primary closer in 2008 until he missed the final two months of the season after arthroscopic surgery to remove bone spurs from his left elbow. He made a career-high 74 appearances with a 2.81 ERA last season, mainly as a setup reliever when new closer Frank Francisco was healthy.

Darren Oliver, the 39-year-old left-hander beginning his third stint for Texas, pitched a perfect sixth before Eyre took over. Eyre got the victory and Dustin Nippert pitched the last two innings for a save.

Murphy, who will be the Rangers’ fourth outfielder, started after All-Star slugger Nelson Cruz was scratched because of a bruised right thumb. Cruz felt discomfort during batting practice, a day after he hit a ball off the end of his bat.

Shortstop Elvis Andrus, who was second in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting last season, wasn’t in the lineup after getting a cortisone shot Friday to alleviate inflammation in his left wrist. The Rangers said he won’t play in the final exhibition game Saturday either.

Cruz and Andrus are both expected to in the lineup for the season opener Monday at home against Toronto.

NOTES: Murphy’s second homer of the spring came after Vladimir Guerrero led off the seventh with a single. Guerrero is hitting .333 this spring, but still doesn’t have a homer in his 60 at-bats over 20 games. … Josh Hamilton, who has been switched from center field to left for the Rangers, made a diving catch to end the fourth. He went to the ground while catching Guillen’s sinking liner. … The Royals and Rangers, who share a spring training complex in Surprise, Ariz., close out their spring training schedules Saturday with a game in Frisco, Texas, home of the Rangers’ Double-A team.