Rangers get boost with return of Max Scherzer vs. Royals

Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer will make his 2024 season debut on Sunday afternoon when the Texas Rangers go for their first three-game series sweep of the season against the Kansas City Royals in Arlington, Texas.

It marks the start of the 17th major league season for the 39-year-old right-hander, who helped lead the Rangers to their first World Series championship last season following a trade deadline deal with the New York Mets.

Scherzer, who has a 214-108 record and a 3.15 ERA, went 4-2 with a 3.20 ERA in eight starts with the Rangers before being sidelined for the remainder of the regular season on September 13 due to a major strain . He came back to start three games in the postseason, including Game 3 of the World Series, before being shut down again due to back pain.

Scherzer underwent hernia surgery in December and was placed on the injured list to start the season with a nerve problem in his thumb. He made three rehab starts for Triple-A Round Rock, compiling a 4.91 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 11 innings.

Scherzer, who is 12-5 with a 3.34 ERA in 22 career starts against Kansas City, was originally scheduled to start Saturday, but his start was pushed back a day.

“We were just being extremely cautious,” Scherzer said. “I had shown some loss of grip strength over the last few days, so I wanted to get that completely out of the system, get my thumb and hand back into position. When you lose grip strength, it’s kind of a harbinger of bad things happening to you arm, so I wanted to make sure I got that completely behind me and then go out there and pitch.”

Scherzer said it was difficult to watch the first three months of the season from the sidelines. Nearly halfway through the season, Texas is 36-40 and in third place in the American League West, 7 1/2 games behind the Seattle Mariners.

“That’s the hand I’ve been dealt and now I have an opportunity to go out and help the team win (Sunday),” Scherzer said. “I just want to go out there and compete and help the team win.”

Right-hander Alec Marsh (5-4, 4.37 ERA), who has never played against the Rangers in his career, will start for Kansas City. Marsh, who shut out the New York Yankees with one hit in seven innings in a June 13 start, is coming off a 7-5 loss to Oakland on Tuesday in which he allowed seven runs on seven hits in three-plus innings.

Texas has won the first two games of the series, including a 6-0 victory on Saturday afternoon. Wyatt Langford hit a grand slam homer to drive a four-run eighth for the Rangers, while Jon Gray allowed just two hits over six innings for the Rangers.

“Huge,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said of Langford’s home run. “The tight ball game at that point gave us the opportunity to sit (closer to Kirby) Yates and give him a break. … Now it’s a six-point lead instead of a two-point lead. ”

It was the fourth straight game of the season with five or more points for the Rangers. Meanwhile, Kansas City, which fell to 2-6 during its nine-game road trip, tied a season-low with three hits and scored just 11 points in its past six games.

In a bright spot for the Royals, Michael Wacha, making his first start since suffering a broken left foot on a Luis Arraez comebacker on May 31, allowed just one run on three hits in five innings.

“Overall, it felt like everything was good,” Wacha said. “I was able to send guys off when I needed to. I felt like it was a good idea to build on.”

–Field-level media