Report: Kershaw out 4-6 weeks
Back slows Dodgers ace for second straight season.
Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, placed on the disabled list Monday for the second straight summer, reportedly will miss 4-6 weeks because of a back injury.
A year after missing 21/2 months with a herniated disk in his lower back, Kershaw was pulled from a start Sunday against Atlanta because of lower back tightness. The left-hander exited after two innings.
“Just felt a little something in my back that wasn’t normal,” Kershaw said Sunday.
The team would not comment on how long Kershaw would be out until he met with team back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins.
Kershaw is 15-2 with a 2.04 ERA. The Dodgers are 19-2 when he starts this season, including winning their last 15 games.
“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.
Royals: Kansas City acquired pitchers Trevor Cahill, Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter from the Padres for pitchers Matt Strahm and Travis Wood, minor leaguer Esteury Ruiz and cash. The Royals had been looking to bolster their rotation and bullpen. Cahill was 4-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 11 starts for the Padres. The right-hander, 29, was an AllStar with Oakland in 2010. Maurer is 20 for 23 on save tries, and 1-4 with a 5.72 ERA. The righty, 27, began his big league career with Seattle in 2013 as a starter. Buchter is 3-3 with one save and a 3.05 ERA in 42 games. The lefty, 30, pitched 67 times for the Padres last year.
Twins: Minnesota acquired left-hander Jaime García, catcher Anthony Recker and cash considerations from the Braves for minor league right-hander Huascar Ynoa. García, 31, is 4-7 with a 4.30 ERA, 41 walks and 85 strikeouts in 18 starts for the Braves this year.
Rangers: Pitcher Tyson Ross was put on the 10-day disabled list because of a blister on his right index finger.
■ Former Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, denies ever using steroids in his new book, “They Call Me Pudge.” “I never took steroids,” Rodriguez writes in the first chapter. “Let’s make that as crystal clear as possible — I never took steroids. If anyone says differently, they are lying.”
Mets: Pitcher Zack Wheeler was placed on the 10-day DL because of a stress reaction in his right arm.
Athletics: Right-handed reliever Ryan Dull (strained knee) could rejoin Oakland at the end of its four-game series in Toronto.
Royals: After batting .156 in June, Brandon Moss entered play Monday hitting .326 with four homers, five doubles and nine RBIs in July.
Phillies: After Sunday’s 6-3 win, Philadelphia had scored five or more runs in seven straight games for the first time in a single season since 2005.