Kershaw's back puts him on DL

Clayton Kershaw
Clayton Kershaw

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is expected to miss four to six weeks based on an initial diagnosis of his injured back.

The Dodgers officially will determine how long Kershaw will be sidelined after the three-time Cy Young Award winner visits with the team’s back specialist, Dr. Robert Watkins. The news was first reported Monday by Fox Sports.

Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts later told reporters there is no timetable yet for Kershaw’s return, but he has been placed on the 10-day disabled list.

A year after missing 2½ months with a herniated disk in his lower back, Kershaw was pulled from a start Sunday against Atlanta because of lower back tightness. He exited after two innings in a 5-4, 10-inning victory.

It leaves baseball’s top team without its best pitcher. The Dodgers lead the majors with a 68-31 record entering Monday and were atop the NL West standings by 10½ games.

Kershaw is 15-2 with a 2.04 ERA. The Dodgers are 19-2 when he starts this season.

Roberts declined to speculate on the severity of Kershaw’s injury or how long the left-hander could be out after the game Sunday.

Kershaw said he got hurt while taking warm-up throws before the second inning after retiring the side on eight pitches in the first.

“Just felt a little something in my back that wasn’t normal,” he said.

The Dodgers were 41-36 when Kershaw went down last season and trailed San Francisco by eight games. In his absence, Los Angeles went 38-24 and moved into first place by five games by the time he returned in early September. Kershaw didn’t need surgery last year and pitched the Dodgers into the NL Championship Series, where they lost to the eventual World Series champion Cubs.

“I’ve done just countless hours of back maintenance and rehab and everything just trying to stay healthy, and felt really, really good up to this point, so there’s definitely some frustration,” Kershaw said.

Kershaw decided not to pitch for Team USA in this year’s World Baseball Classic, saying he owed it to the Dodgers to remain healthy for an entire season.

“There wasn’t any shooting pain down the leg or the sensations that he felt last year, so that’s encouraging,” Roberts said Sunday, “but what he means to our ball club and his history, there’s some pause.

“From what I understand, it’s more muscular, so that sharpness he felt last year is not what he felt today. The scans could prove different.”

The Dodgers also lost starter Brandon McCarthy to the DL with a blister.

TWINS-BRAVES

Lefty Garcia traded

MINNEAPOLIS — Hoping to bolster their rotation for a playoff run, the Minnesota Twins have acquired veteran left-handed pitcher Jaime Garcia, catcher Anthony Recker and cash considerations from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for minor league right-hander Huascar Ynoa. Garcia, 31, is 66-52 with a 3.65 ERA and 808 strikeouts in 176 appearances, mostly with St. Louis (2008, 2010-2016). He missed the 2009 MLB season after Tommy John surgery.

Garcia is 4-7 with a 4.30 ERA, 41 walks and 85 strikeouts in 18 starts for the Braves this year.

Recker, 33, has appeared in 206 career major league games with four teams, including the past two seasons in Atlanta. The 19-year-old Ynoa has a career minor league record of 5-11 with a 3.05 ERA, 54 walks and 118 strikeouts in 30 starts.

ORIOLES

Davis to see Rays doctor

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis was out of the lineup at Tampa Bay because of an illness.

Orioles Manager Buck Showalter said before Monday night’s game that Davis would be checked by a Rays doctor.

Davis is hitting .217 with 17 home runs and 35 RBI in 71 games. The slugger was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list July 14 after sitting out a month with strained right oblique.

RANGERS

Ross to DL

ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers starter Tyson Ross has been put on the 10-day disabled list because of a blister on his right index finger.

Texas made the move Monday before the series opener against Miami to start a nine-game homestand. It was a day after Ross allowed 5 runs and 4 hits in 3 1/3 innings at Tampa Bay. Ross (2-2, 7.52 ERA) has allowed 14 runs over seven innings in his past two starts. Ross has started seven games for the Rangers since his mid-June debut after missing the start of the season while recovering from offseason surgery to correct Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Class AAA All-Star catcher Brett Nicholas was recalled from Round Rock.

Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos left Sunday’s game with a sprained left ankle after a collision at the plate. X-rays were negative.

METS

Arm trouble sidelines Wheeler

NEW YORK — The New York Mets have put pitcher Zack Wheeler on the 10-day disabled list because of a stress reaction in his right arm.

The Mets didn’t provide a timetable for Wheeler’s return. He was on the DL last month with biceps tendinitis and has struggled in four starts since his return.

The team recalled right-hander Tyler Pill from Class AAA Las Vegas before Monday night’s game at San Diego.

Wheeler joins Mets starting pitchers Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey and Robert Gsellman on the disabled list. Steven Matz and Seth Lugo recently came off the DL and returned to the rotation.

Sports on 07/25/2017

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