At Tempe Diablo Stadium, near the home of the Arizona State Sun Devils, the late-afternoon sun bedeviled the two teams as they played to a tie Thursday afternoon. A late start and a wicked sunset made the defense sloppy over the final three innings. The teams elected not to play a 10th inning because of a shortage of pitchers.

Hits: CF Josh Hamilton, who drove in a run with a first-inning triple, took second base after his fifth-inning single when the Angels left the base unattended. … LHP Kason Gabbard got Ranger-killer Vladimir Guerrero to chase a pitch well outside the zone to end the first with a strikeout. … After throwing six of his first eight pitches for balls, Gabbard got Gary Matthews Jr. to bounce into a double play that squashed a first-inning rally.

Misses: Do the Angels have the Rangers’ signs already? OF David Murphy was caught stealing on a pitchout to end the second inning. … C Jarrod Saltalamacchia allowed a passed ball in the third. … RF John Mayberry Jr. lost a fly ball in the sun, as is prone to happen in Arizona. … 2B German Duran seemed to have a particularly tough time with the sun; he failed to make one play and threw away a double-play flip.

Up next: Radio broadcaster Eric Nadel officially begins his 30th season on the air today at 2:05 p.m. CST when the Rangers host the Los Angeles Angels on KRLD-AM (1080). The Rangers will either start RHP Robinson Tejeda or LHP Matt Harrison against Los Angeles prospect RHP Nick Adenhart.

The Rangers took their first road trip of the spring Thursday. What better time to discuss life away from home with catcher and man-about-town Gerald Laird?

Forget your favorite spots; what’s your least favorite road stop?

There is nothing to do around the hotel in Tampa. And what’s really frustrating is you are very close to the beach with no time to go there.

And your least favorite road stadium?

It’s got to be Tampa also. There are no fans, and you are in a dome. It’s tough to get your adrenaline going when there are no fans around.

You realize this is not going to get you any travel endorsements from the State of Florida, don’t you?

That’s all right. They won’t see this.

Well, OK. What’s a big night for you on the road?

Sushi and a cocktail. If we have a night free, we usually get a group together to go. Whoever is up for it that night, I’m in. Hank [Blalock] and Frank [Catalanotto] go a lot, so does [Ian] Kinsler. Kam [Loe] and [Brandon] McCarthy go sometimes.

So, what’s the worst sushi city in the majors?

Cleveland is just pretty average. It’s all right. But usually we’ll go to steak place or Italian if a city doesn’t have good sushi. Obviously, Seattle has great sushi.

What’s a routine day for you like on the road?

I’m a big breakfast guy, and I mean a big breakfast. No room service or anything like that. I’ve got to get up and go have it at a diner. I’ll get steak and eggs or the two-egg breakfast or sometimes biscuits and gravy with eggs. I usually try to get up by 9:30 or so and get out the door by 10:30. After breakfast, I try to do a little walking around, maybe some sightseeing, maybe some shopping. In San Francisco, I like to walk around Fisherman’s Wharf. A couple of years ago in New York, we went to Ground Zero. And then I like to get back to the hotel to get a quick nap before I go to the park.

What kind of adventures have you gotten into on the road?

On off days a couple of times, we’ve gone fishing. We went out in a boat on Puget Sound a couple of years ago. And I went up into the mountains with Don Wakamatsu. Last year, we were in Chicago on an off night, and the Cubs were at home. I’d never been to a game there. Mark DeRosa left me tickets, and I sat in the stands with a hot dog and a beer. That was fun.

Anything you still want to do?

I do want to go to Alcatraz, and I’m going to try and do that this year. In Boston, I’ve never been to the “Cheers” bar, and I’d really like to go there.

In Boston? What about Bunker Hill?

What’s Bunker Hill?

Um, never mind.

Sunsets (Fair): Over the mountains, they may be lovely, but in the late innings Thursday, with players looking into the glare, they caused havoc with the fielding.

Openers (Foul): Rangers were the Angels' exhibition season-opening foe. Good practice for the Rangers. They’ll be the Angels’ home-opening foe for the regular season, too, on April 4.

First impressions (Fair): Kazuo Fukumori faced opposing hitters for the first time since joining the Rangers and had an uneventful fifth inning.