Thu Aug 7 18:37:53 2008

Comment | Email | Print

Rangers place Murphy on DL, purchase Ellison's contract

---

Arlington, TX (Sports Network) - The Texas Rangers placed outfielder David Murphy on the 15-day disabled list with a right knee sprain on Thursday after a collision with Yankees catcher Ivan Rodriguez in Wednesday's 5-3 loss to New York.

The injury is listed as a strained posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, which occurred in the second inning of the game. With two outs, Ian Kinsler hit a single to Bobby Abreu in right. Abreu threw to Rodriguez, who caught the ball and braced for the impact with Murphy. Rodriguez held on to the ball and the side was retired.

Murphy stayed in the game for the third inning but Brandon Boggs replaced him in left before the fourth. Rodriguez left the game immediately after the collision and his injury is listed as a bruised right knee.

The 26-year-old Murphy is hitting .275 with 28 doubles, 15 home runs and 74 RBI in 108 games for Texas this season.

To take Murphy's spot on the roster, the club has purchased the contract of outfielder Jason Ellison from Triple-A Oklahoma. The 29-year-old Ellison owns a career batting average of .251 with 23 doubles, eight homers, 33 RBI and 22 stolen bases in 335 games over parts of five seasons with San Francisco, Seattle and Cincinnati.

Texas also transferred A.J. Murray from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list. The lefty has been shelved since June 4 with a strained left rotator cuff. He is 1-0 with a 3.52 ERA in two starts for the Rangers this season.