Rangers Purchase Contract of LHP Travis Blackley

ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Texas Rangers announced Tuesday that LHP Travis Blackley has had his contract selected from Triple-A Round Rock and is scheduled to start tonight for the Rangers against his former team, the Houston Astros, in Arlington. In a related move, RHP Ryan Rodebaugh has been transferred back to Round Rock from Double-A Frisco.

Blackley, 30, was assigned to the Express after being acquired by the Rangers from the Astros for a player to be named later or cash considerations on August 14. The southpaw made one start for the E-Train, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings against Tacoma on August 15 at Dell Diamond. He threw 40 pitches in that outing, 22 for strikes.

In 42 appearances out of Houston's bullpen this season, Blackley went 1-1 with a 4.89 ERA (35.0ip/19er) while striking out 29. He held left-handers to a .200 average (12-for-60) and all opponents to a .234 (30-for-128) clip. Blackley has pitched in the major leagues for four differed organizations (Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland and Houston). He is 8-8 with a 5.28 ERA (104 ER/177.1 IP) in 78 career games in the major leagues.

Rodebaugh has a 1-0 record with a 3.96 ERA (25.0ip/11er) in 18 appearances with the Express this season. His last outing was on August 17 before being transferred to Frisco on August 18. He did not pitch in a game for Frisco during this last stint.

The Express and Nashville Sounds conclude a five-game series Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. Southpaw Ryan Feierabend (6-4, 3.70 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for the Express, while the Sounds will send Johnny Hellweg (11-5, 2.77 ERA) to the hill. After the five-game set in Nashville, the E-Train returns to Dell Diamond for the final homestand of the regular season on Wednesday, August 21 to open a five-game series against Oklahoma City. For more information on the Express, visit www.RoundRockExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Keep up with the Express on Facebook and Twitter!