Texas Rangers win a big game, lose C.J. Wilson

ARLINGTON — C.J. Wilson needed only five batters and one postgame sentence to push Matt Harrison off the front page Tuesday night.

The Texas Rangers’ closer is headed to the disabled list, and he might not come off it for the rest of the season.

Wilson revealed that he has been pitching with bone spurs in his left elbow, and his appearance in the eighth inning of an 8-6 victory over the New York Yankees convinced him that he can be of no help to his team with the elbow issue.

He expects to fly to Los Angeles later this week to see Dr. Lewis Yocum for a second opinion on his elbow.

"I’ve been pitching through it, but I can’t do the team too much good unless I get healthy," said Wilson, who expects to have surgery before next season. "There’s plenty of guys we have in the bullpen who can get the job done."

He entered in the eighth inning with an 8-2 lead, but walked Bobby Abreu to start inning and plunked Alex Rodriguez before striking out Xavier Nady. But Wilson walked Robinson Cano to load the bases, and Richie Sexson unloaded them with his 15th career grand slam.

Wilson’s line: four runs, one hit, two walks and a hit batter in one-third of an inning.

"It’s something I admitted and tried to pitch through at the same time," he said. "The main concern is the effectiveness. If I can’t help the team win, there’s nothing I can do."

Manager Ron Washington walked to the mound to replace Wilson, who flipped the ball toward Washington and started walking way before Washington got to the mound. Washington pulled Wilson back.

The two met after the game for some 20 minutes before they emerged from the manager’s office.

"He felt like he couldn’t get it done," Washington said. "The effectiveness has to be part of it, too. He’s just not effective. We have to try to get it right."

That news overshadowed a strong outing by Harrison, who pitched 6 1/3 innings as the Rangers won their third straight game and are six games above .500 for the first time since June 23, 2006.

Harrison (3-2) benefited from three double plays, two that ended innings, and all started by third baseman Travis Metcalf.

"I felt like tonight I had something to prove, that they didn’t make a mistake bringing me here," said Harrison, who allowed two runs on five hits. "I felt good from the get-go. After I got the lead, I stayed aggressive."

Josh Hamilton hit his 27th homer of the season in the first, and Chris Davis had a three-run double in the seventh that staked the Rangers to the 8-2 lead.

It turned out to be a critical hit as Wilson entered to work on his mechanics but might have left for the rest of the season.

"I’m going to have to have elbow surgery," Wilson said. "We’ve been trying to treat it the last couple days, and it just didn’t work."