Garcia set for imaging after he, Scherzer exit win

PHOENIX — Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia will undergo imaging on his left torso after grabbing it and leaving Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night following a swing in the eighth inning. Garcia’s injury came after Max Scherzer, the Rangers’ Game 3 starter, exited in the fourth inning after a spasm flared in his back.

The dual injuries put a damper on an otherwise-productive night for the Rangers, whose 3-1 victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks gave Texas a two-games-to-one advantage in the Series.

Garcia, the American League Championship Series MVP whose 11th-inning home run won Game 1 of the World Series, has been the best player in baseball this postseason. Concern percolated through the Rangers’ clubhouse after the game about Garcia’s ability to return before the end of the Series, particularly if the imaging discovers a core muscle strain, which typically requires more than a week of recovery.

“We’re being optimistic there,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said, “but we’ll know more [Tuesday].”

Scherzer said his timetable is, at earliest, Wednesday. In the third inning of Game 3, he said, he felt a twinge in his back on a slider he threw to Arizona’s Evan Longoria, the No. 8 hitter. By the time Scherzer escaped from the inning, his third scoreless of the night, the pain had grown into something more.

Saying his back was “locked up,” Scherzer likened it to four years ago, when he missed his scheduled Game 5 World Series start because of a debilitating neck issue. By the time Game 7 arrived, Scherzer’s neck had loosened and he started — and won — the game.

“I’ve had it last a little bit longer and I’ve had it clear in 48 hours, get better, significantly better, in 48 hours,” Scherzer said. “I can’t tell you where we’re at. I got to see how bad this is and if the drugs can work.”

In the second inning, Arizona outfielder Alek Thomas hit a comebacker that ricocheted off Scherzer’s elbow, though that injury and his back tightening up, Scherzer said, were not related.

“I was feeling good,” he said. “I was finally feeling like I was going to finally get deep into a game and finally get some rhythm and finally get going here and then having a little spasm. So it’s frustrating.”

Texas could replace Garcia, Scherzer or both on the roster, though doing so would make them ineligible to come back in the World Series. Scherzer missed around six weeks with a shoulder injury and was activated before the ALCS alongside Jon Gray, his fellow pitcher who replaced him in Game 3 and earned the win.