Rangers' Adolis Garcia not in lineup for World Series Game 4
PHOENIX -- Adolis Garcia, the Texas Rangers' dynamic right fielder, was absent from the lineup for Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday, one day after tweaking his left side on a swing.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Garcia has "a moderate strain of the oblique" and was still getting evaluated when he addressed the media about 2½ hours before the first pitch.
The Rangers didn't immediately remove Garcia from the roster, but Bochy admitted that might change before the start of the game.
"It's not great news," Bochy said.
The manager added the Rangers are also waiting to make a decision regarding starting pitcher Max Scherzer, whose back locked up in the third inning of his Game 3 start.
"He's on the table getting looked at, trying to get loose some, but he's not feeling well," Bochy said of Scherzer, who would be in line to start a potential Game 7 on Saturday on four days of rest. "We have to make a call on him whether we're going to wait a day or two or if we feel like we're a little short, need a pitcher."
Asked after Monday's game whether he was taking a muscle relaxant or something stronger, Scherzer responded: "All of the above."
As for Game 4, Travis Jankowski replaced Garcia in right field and designated hitter Mitch Garver moved into the No. 3 spot in the lineup for what will be a bullpen game for the Arizona Diamondbacks, with rookie left fielder Evan Carter batting cleanup and third baseman Josh Jung hitting fifth.
Garcia experienced pain on his left side on the swing that produced a flyout to end the top of the eighth in the Rangers' 3-1 win on Monday, then came out of the game and promptly exited Chase Field to undergo further evaluation.
Garcia, a two-time All-Star who didn't emerge until he was a 28-year-old rookie in 2021, has put together a historic postseason, slashing .323/.382/.726 with eight home runs in 15 games. In a six-at-bat stretch to end the American League Championship Series, Garcia homered three times and drove in nine runs, leading the Rangers to back-to-back road wins against the Houston Astros and winning the ALCS MVP trophy.
He then delivered the walk-off home run to win Game 1 of the World Series in extra innings.
"Whoever slots into his spot in the lineup is going to do a great job; whoever plays right field will do a great job," Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said. "It's nothing new to us. It stinks that that's the guy who goes down, position-wise, but we've dealt with it on the pitching side a lot. And I feel like we've done a pretty good job when it happens to position players, too."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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