Rangers' injury report getting worse
3B Metcalf, pitchers Padilla, McCarthy join Millwood on sidelines

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) - The Texas Rangers' already shaky injury report got worse Tuesday.

Third baseman Travis Metcalf, one of the team's spring stars, will miss six to eight weeks with a torn left hamstring tendon that will require surgery. He injured the leg running the bases Friday against Milwaukee.

Metcalf, who was hitting .412 with two home runs, returned to Dallas on Tuesday, with surgery scheduled for Wednesday. He hit .255 in 57 games as a rookie last season while filling in for the injured Hank Blalock.

"I'm disappointed, but I want to take care of it now," Metcalf said. "I was swinging the bat well and felt good about things."

The news might be worse for the pitching staff.

Right-hander Brandon McCarthy, a projected

starter already sidelined with a severe right forearm strain, could be out up to eight weeks, two weeks longer than previously announced.

The team said Tuesday a procedure to reduce the swelling has been delayed until the area calms down.

McCarthy was to receive an injection of his blood platelets into the inflamed area. He had trouble with injuries last year, when he was 5-10 with a 4.87 ERA.

Right-hander Kevin Millwood, scheduled to start the March 31 opener, has yet to appear in a spring training game because of a right hamstring injury.

Vicente Padilla, another projected starter, left Tuesday's game against the Chicago White Sox in the fourth inning with a pulled leg muscle. Padilla gave up a two-run homer to Brian Anderson in the second.

The Rangers beat the White Sox, 7-5, on Tuesday, and are 7-6 so far in spring training. They will face the other Chicago team - the Cubs - today in Surprise at 3:05 p.m. Central time.

In Tuesday's game against the White Sox, Nelson Cruz hit a two-run homer with two outs in the 10th off Matt Anderson. Cruz also had an RBI on a groundout in a threerun eighth that tied the score at 5.