Mike Adams Dealing With A Sore Back

Rangers’ setup man Mike Adams might be shut down for just a little while as he deals with a sore trapezius muscle in his back, a fairly painful but not terribly serious injury for a pitcher. Adams first felt the soreness on Tuesday night, shortly after he entered the game against the Indians. Adams was unable to finish the eighth inning in a game that Texas won by a final of 6-4.

"Once I got on the mound, it started tightening up," Adams told the team’s official website. "I warmed up fine, but all of a sudden on the mound it tightened up. I thought my stuff would be good enough to get through it, but I'm glad they got me when they did. I knew after three batters that it was going to be tight."

Adams needed 26 pitches to get two outs, and surrendered a run on a hit and two walks before being replaced by Koji Uehara--who gave up a run-scoring single before getting out of the inning. Needless to say, it wasn’t exactly vintage Mike Adams.

"I felt like I was shot-putting the ball," Adams said. "You always pitch in a little discomfort. You rarely pitch perfectly fine but last night more than usual it bothered me significantly. I couldn't finish my pitches. I'm taking today off for sure and let it calm down and go day by day for now. Last night we did some things [with treatment] to help move it along."