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MIAMI — Texas Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer believes he cleared an initial hurdle toward returning to the club after his bullpen session in Miami on Saturday.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner has not pitched for the defending World Series champions this season following back surgery in December.

Scherzer threw approximately 25 pitches before the Rangers’ second game of their series against the Miami Marlins. If he continues to show no ill effects, the next step would be for Scherzer to face hitters in a batting practice session.

“That’s completely determined on how I recover,” Scherzer said Sunday. “You can’t get ahead of yourself. All you can do is do this, your body responds, and you do more. I felt great. I felt I finally turned a corner on this.”

Scherzer attempted an earlier return last month but was sidelined by another setback. He experienced soreness in the thumb of his throwing hand after a minor league rehab outing April 24 and was transferred to the 60-day injured list May 15.

“My arm has always been fine,” Scherzer said. “Now it’s like the search engine light just won’t go off. There is something wrong with the engine. We addressed it, and now everything is flying on all cylinders. Now I can ramp up.”

The 39-year-old Scherzer, who has won 214 games over a 16-year career, joined the Rangers at the trade deadline last season. Scherzer made eight starts with Texas during its American League pennant-winning run. He started the third game of the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks but was lifted after three scoreless innings because of his back.

“We’ll see what the next move is,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “We’re looking at facing hitters, live [batting practice] deal. That’s not etched in stone. So I have to get with the trainer and with Scherzer and see if he’s ready for that.”

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Rangers’ Gray fractures wrist on comebacker

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Rangers' Gray fractures wrist on comebacker

The Texas Rangers‘ pitching staff took another hit Friday, when right-hander Jon Gray suffered a right wrist fracture.

Gray was struck by a line drive from Colorado Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia to lead off the fourth inning that knocked him out of the game.

“Not good news, not good news,” manager Bruce Bochy told reporters. “It’s terrible. I feel awful for him, to be this close to getting the season going. It’s just not good news. I’ll get back in there and find out more, but right now, there is a fracture.”

Gray’s injury is the third setback for the Rangers rotation this week. The team said Thursday that left-hander Cody Bradford would start the season on the injured list because of soreness in his throwing elbow. Tyler Mahle had been scratched from a start with forearm soreness, but the right-hander returned to pitch in a minor league game Thursday.

Gray went 5-6 with a 4.47 ERA in 23 appearances (19 starts) for the Rangers last season, when he was shut down in September for a foot injury that required surgery. He is in the final year of a four-year, $56 million deal.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Ohtani hits long home run in return to Japan

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Ohtani hits long home run in return to Japan

TOKYO — Japanese star Shohei Ohtani showed off some prodigious power in his return to the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.

In an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants, the three-time Most Valuable Player belted a long two-run homer to right field in the third inning to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead, setting off a roar from the roughly 42,000 fans in attendance.

The Dodgers put on quite a power display in the third with Michael Conforto, Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández all going deep to give Los Angeles a 5-0 advantage.

The Dodgers are playing in Japan as part of the Tokyo Series. The team is playing two exhibition games against Japanese teams before starting the regular season with two games against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to have at least 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in one season in 2024. He played several seasons for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan before coming to the U.S. in 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels.

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Dodgers’ Betts to miss Japan games with illness

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Dodgers' Betts to miss Japan games with illness

TOKYO — Shortstop Mookie Betts will miss the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ two exhibition games in Japan because of an illness, manager Dave Roberts said Saturday.

Roberts said he’s still hopeful that the eight-time All-Star will be available for the team’s first regular season game against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday at the Tokyo Dome. The Dodgers are playing the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers — two teams from Japan — in exhibition games on Saturday and Sunday.

Roberts said the 32-year-old Betts started to feel flu-like symptoms during the team’s final day in Arizona, but team doctors said he was OK to make the long trip to Japan.

“Mookie is here today, but he’s been really sick,” Roberts said. “Lost some weight, so we’re trying to get him hydrated. He’s going to work out a little today, but he won’t be playing either tonight or tomorrow.

“Then when we have our off day, our workout day, we’ll see how he is.”

Betts is making the full-time transition to shortstop this season after playing most of his career in right field and second base. The 2018 AL MVP hit .289 with 19 homers and 75 RBI last season, helping the Dodgers win the World Series.

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