Major League Baseball

Rangers activate Kinsler, put INF Arias on DL

Published May. 1, 2010 3:37 a.m. ET

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The Texas Rangers cleared the way for second baseman Ian Kinsler to make his season debut Friday night, placing infielder Joaquin Arias on the 15-day disabled list with a back injury.

Texas announced before Friday night's game at Seattle that Kinsler had been activated from the 15-day DL. He started and batted in a new spot - fifth - against the Mariners and pitcher Cliff Lee, who made his Seattle debut.

He flied out in his first at-bat.

``You feel alive again. It's a lot of fun,'' Kinsler said of his personal opening day, which came a day after he rejoined his teammates from a minor-league rehabilitation stint.

``You miss being out there with your teammates and enjoying that with them. Everyone has worked so hard in the off season and to just get ready for the season and then have it taken away from you and then be able to come back is just real exciting.''

Asked if he envisioned missing six weeks when he first sprained his ankle during spring-training drills on March 12, Texas' 31-homer slugger from last season said: ``Absolutely not. I thought it was going to be three or four days when I first did it.

``They just kind of pretty much handcuffed me and kept extending the time that the doctors and the trainers thought that it was going to take, and it ended up being five or six weeks,'' he said, just outside the clubhouse following a pregame meeting. ``Kind of a rough one.''

The Rangers say Arias has a lower back strain. He started for the 13th time this season at second base on Thursday against the Chicago White Sox.

Arias hit .321 in 17 games while Kinsler was out.

Rangers manager Ron Washington noticed how psyched Kinsler was to get going on his fifth major league season.

``The biggest satisfaction is how pumped he is. I just want him to control it,'' Washington said. ``He's been looking for this day for a long time.''

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