Delino DeShields leaves game after fall

Texas Rangers center fielder Delino DeShields left tonight’s game against the Boston Red Sox after injuring himself in the sixth inning diving for a bloop off the bat of Eduardo Nunez. DeShields appeared to suffer a head or neck injury.

DeShields was replaced in center field by Ryan Rua, who had been playing first base. Ronald Guzman came into the game to play first.

The Rangers are thin in center field behind DeShields. Rule 5 pick Carlos Tocci is, theoretically, the backup center fielder, but Jeff Banister clearly doesn’t trust him with any sort of meaningful playing time. If DeShields ends up on the d.l., we could see Scott Heineman, a 25 year old righthanded hitting center fielder who is having a nice season for Round Rock, but who is not on the 40 man roster.

UPDATE — DeShields is having his neck/shoulder area evaluated, per the beats.