The ponytail was let loose Saturday afternoon.
A.J. Griffin let his hair down — way down — and began his quest to be the Texas Rangers’ fifth starter.
Results were mixed, as maybe should be expected in February, in pitcher-vexing Arizona, in a team’s opening exhibition game.
In the Cactus League, the air is thin. Breaking pitches don’t always bite — they’ve been known to hover like hot air balloons.
Still, it was a fat, mid-February fastball that did the most damage to Griffin’s two-inning performance Saturday. Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez sent the pitch rocketing to the back wall of the left-field bullpen for a three-run home run.