Rangers' Max Scherzer out for the season with injury as Texas battles for AL playoff spot

Max Scherzer, acquired by the Texas Rangers to fortify a pitching staff that was hitting a second-half wall, instead will miss the final three weeks of the season.

Scherzer suffered a teres major strain Tuesday night during his start against the Toronto Blue Jays, Rangers general manager Chris Young told reporters on Wednesday. Young said Scherzer won't require surgery, but it's "unlikely" the right-hander would pitch in the playoffs.

It's a devastating blow for a Rangers team that held a 6 ½-game American League West lead in June and a two-game lead at the All-Star break, yet now trails Houston by one game in the division and is fighting the Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners for the final two wild card berths.

Scherzer, 39, was acquired by the Rangers from the New York Mets after their experiment with 40-something aces Scherzer and Justin Verlander went south; oddly enough, Verlander did not pitch for the first five weeks this season due to his own teres major strain.

Scherzer is in the second year of a three-year contract that will pay him $43.3 million per year; the Rangers will only pay him $22.5 million in 2024, with the Mets picking up the remainder.

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Now, the Rangers must make do in the rotation with fellow trade deadline acquisition Jordan Montgomery, along with holdovers Andrew Heaney, Jon Gray, Dane Dunning and All-Star Nathan Eovaldi.

Eovaldi missed seven weeks due to a forearm strain and is still building his pitch count up in two starts since his return. Meanwhile, the Astros will look to ice the division with none other than Verlander in their rotation; he was traded to Houston just days before the Mets traded Scherzer to Texas.