ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) _ Jose Canseco's back felt fine, so his spring debut would have been a success even without a run-scoring single in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' 3-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.

``I'm healthy. That's my main concern,'' the 35-year-old designated hitter said after going 1-for-3 with a walk. ``Whether I would have struck out four times or hit four home runs, that's not my concern at all. My concern is being out there again tomorrow.''

Canseco sat out the first weekend of exhibition games after arriving in camp five days late. He was sidelined for six weeks following back surgery last summer, and manager Larry Rothschild is allowing him to get into playing shape at his own pace.

The only game plan when it comes to Canseco seems to be to do whatever is necessary to keep him fresh for the regular season. Last year, he had 34 homers and 95 RBIs in 113 games.

``He wanted four at-bats today and I was going to give them to him as long as he didn't have to run the bases too much,'' said Rothschild, who lifted Canseco for a pinch runner after his eighth-inning single drove in Tampa Bay's final run.

``He feels good, and you can see that his back's fine right now,'' the manager added. ``We just need to keep it that way.''

Canseco intends to stay in the lineup for home games Wednesday and Thursday, giving the Devil Rays a couple of more looks at what the team is promoting as ``The Hit Show'' _ a powerful core of the batting order also featuring Fred McGriff and offseason acquisitions Greg Vaughn and Vinny Castilla.

McGriff, Vaughn and Castilla all went 0-for-2 against the Rangers, however Rothschild liked what he saw.

``They didn't do much damage today, but you can see the force of the swings is there,'' the manager said. ``It's fun to see those guys go up there one after the other.''

Dave Martinez hit a solo homer off loser Joaquin Benoit, who also allowed Kevin Stocker's run-scoring single in the sixth inning. Ruben Mateo drove in the Rangers' only run with a fourth-inning single off Chad Ogea.

Canseco drew a sixth-inning walk off Benoit after falling behind 0-2 in the count. He singled to right off Doug Davis in his final at-bat.

``It's only spring training,'' Canseco said. ``But it is good to be in the lineup, to feel healthy ... to feel you can help out the team.''

Notes: The Devil Rays released OF Danny Clyburn. The team also assigned 12 players, including former Miami quarterback Kenny Kelly, to its minor league camp ... Royce Clayton had two of the Rangers' five hits ... Texas starter Mark Clark allowed one hit, but faced the minimum nine batters in three scoreless innings.