Harry Maguire’s mother has criticised the “disgraceful” abuse her son has been subjected to which she claims goes far beyond football.

The under-fire Manchester United defender dismissed the reception he received at Hampden Park during England’s 3-1 friendly win over Scotland but manager Gareth Southgate said it was “ridiculous” and “a joke”.

Now Maguire’s mum Zoe Maguire-Wilkinson has waded in.

 “As a mum seeing the level of negative and abusive comments in which my son is receiving from some fans, pundits and the media is disgraceful and totally unacceptable to any walk of life never mind someone who works his socks off for club and country,” she wrote on Instagram.

“I was there in the stand as usual, it’s not acceptable what’s been created, over nothing. I understand that in the football world there are ups and downs, positives and negatives but what Harry receives has gone far beyond ‘football’.

“For me seeing him go through what he’s going through is not OK. I would hate to have to see any other parents or players go through this in the future, especially the young boys and girls breaking through the ranks today.

“Harry has a massive heart and it’s a good job he’s mentally strong and can handle it as others may not be able too. I wish this sort of abuse on nobody!”

Little more than two years ago, the centre-back was an ever-present for United and earned a place in the Euros team of the tournament after helping Southgate’s side reach the final.

But a drop in form and club game time, including being replaced as captain at Old Trafford, has led pressure and criticism to ratchet up on Maguire, which culminated in every pass Maguire made on Tuesday being met by an ironic cheer after he was brought on as a half-time substitute – where he scored an unfortunate own goal.

“It pretty much takes the pressure away from my team-mates and puts it all on myself. It makes them play better, for sure,” said Maguire after the game.

“It is a little bit of banter and it is a hostile environment, coming away to Scotland.

“I would not say I am a person who struggles with pressure mentally. I have been through a lot in the last couple of years and I have been Manchester United captain for nearly four years.

“You take a huge lot of responsibility and everything that comes with it and that is a lot of bad as well as good.”

Trainer Luke Comer has been handed a three-year ban and faces costs in excess of €755,000 following an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board hearing.

The handler was found to have breached two rules in relation to 12 of his horses testing positive for methandienone and methyltestosterone, steroids that are classified as Prohibited At All Times (PAAT) substances.

A hair sample taken from He Knows No Fear – a 300-1 winner in 2020 –  after finishing fourth in the Trigo Stakes at Leopardstown in October 2021 returned a positive result, with out of competition hair testing taking place on that horse and 11 others the following month.

They all returned positive results, with a nine-day hearing subsequently taking place in May this year.

While Comer “acknowledged the presence of the prohibited substances” on the first day of the hearing, he “categorically denies that either he or any of his staff were involved in doping the animals”, according to the IHRB report into the case.

Comer suggested “environmental contamination” could be to blame, pointing to the possibility of contaminated hay, but the Committee found evidence on that idea “difficult” to evaluate while the handler also conceded “an employee could have accidently caused contamination” or a “disgruntled employee could have interfered with the horses”, although there was no evidence to support either theory.

The Referrals Committee underlined Comer had not been charged in breach of Rule 273 (i) which concerns “any person who administers or attempts to administer or connives at the administration to a horse of any prohibited substance” and added Comer had spent an “enormous sum of money” in an attempt to establish the source of the drugs.

However, it said that “after considering a great deal of evidence” it was “unable to say, on the balance of probability, how the horses came to test positive for the PAAT substances”.

The Committee described the case as “quite unprecedented”, concluding it warranted a three-year suspension of Comer’s licence, beginning on January 1.

The handler was fined €5,000 in relation to He Knows No Fear’s positive test and a further €5,000 in respect of each of the 11 horses.

Comer, who “maintains he is not guilty of any misconduct”, was also found to have acted in “a manner which is prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct or good regulation of horseracing”, for which he was fined €20,000 based on the large number of horses which tested positive and the “reputational damage” to the sport.

He was also ordered to pay 80 per cent of costs incurred by the IHRB in prosecuting the matter – a figure estimated to be in the region of €755,000.

Kieran Shoemark says it is a “privilege not pressure” to team up with Gregory in Saturday’s Betfred St Leger at Doncaster.

Shoemark was called upon by John and Thady Gosden for the ride aboard Soul Sister in the Grand Prix de Paris earlier in the season and will again be aboard a horse usually piloted by Frankie Dettori, with the retiring Italian picking his Derby mount Arrest over the Queen’s Vase winner for his final ride in a British Classic.

It is arguably the biggest ride of Shoemark’s career as he steps out on Town Moor aboard one of the leading fancies for the final Classic of the season, but he is relishing the prospect of linking up with the Royal Ascot scorer, who has an obvious chance of handing him a first victory in one of racing’s crown jewel events.

Shoemark said: “I’m very happy with my mount in the race and wouldn’t swap him. As soon as Frankie made up his mind I found out.

“He’s a high-profile horse in a high-profile race. He’s one of the market leaders and to be riding a favourite in a British Classic is hugely exciting.”

When asked if the ride aboard Gregory would represent the biggest moment in his career, Shoemark added: “I’ve never ridden a favourite in a Classic, so you could potentially say that. I’ve certainly felt more pressure going into other races, but if I were to win the race it would be my biggest career win for sure.

“It’s where I want to be, so it’s a privilege not pressure and I look forward to it.”

Gregory will head into the race having suffered his first career defeat when third under a penalty in the Great Voltigeur at York, but Shoemark believes a return to further for the Wathnan Racing-owned colt will be in his favour.

He continued: “It was well documented the strong tempo throughout the race in the Great Voltigeur and all credit to Gregory for maintaining that and still finishing his race.

“He was only beaten four lengths and the other two that were taking him on the whole way finished tailed off. I thought it was a massive run and we know he will benefit for the step up in trip, so it is all systems go.”

Unsurprisingly, owners Juddmonte are delighted Dettori has sided with their colt.

Racing manager Barry Mahon said: “John called this morning to say that Frankie had thought about it, and with the rain he was happy to ride Arrest and I suppose when you sit down and go through the different variables, he knows Arrest handles that type of ground which is a big thing.

“I think it will be a hot race and in fairness, I don’t think it was an easy choice to make for Frankie and I’m not sure I would be able to make it.

“Ultimately I’m sure the rain is what swayed him and if you look back to this day last week, when I spoke to John we both said it looks like we won’t be running. The forecast was giving very little rain at the start of the week but the last I read they were up to 30 millimetres, so it’s been a rollercoaster of a week and the more rain that falls the better.

“We know he handles soft ground well and I’m not sure there is a whole lot more coming between now and Saturday, but if there is, then an odd shower won’t do it any harm.”

Alongside Gregory and Arrest, the Clarehaven stable also has a fine third string in the supplemented Middle Earth (Oisin Murphy), a hugely impressive winner of the Melrose at York’s Ebor meeting.

The King and Queen have a live chance of tasting success in a British Classic with the William Haggas-trained Desert Hero, himself a Royal Ascot winner, albeit in handicap company in the King George V Stakes.

He subsequently won the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, narrowly beating Simon and Ed Crisford’s Chesspiece and the two will lock horns again.

Aidan O’Brien runs four in Great Voltigeur winner Continuous, Alexandroupolis, Denmark and Tower Of London meaning there were no withdrawals at the 48-hour stage.

Leon Smith is expecting a highly motivated Switzerland on the other side of the net as Great Britain try to maintain their Davis Cup momentum in Manchester on Friday.

Britain began their campaign at a packed AO Arena on Wednesday with a 2-1 upset victory over last year’s runners-up Australia.

That gave them a great chance of righting the wrongs of last year, when they were eliminated after only two matches of the group stage in Glasgow, and progressing to finals week in Malaga in November but there is still a lot of work to do.

Switzerland, led by three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka, are already in the last-chance saloon having lost 3-0 to France in their opener on Tuesday.

“This is just the start, that’s what we talked about,” said captain Smith after watching debutant Jack Draper and Dan Evans pull off impressive wins against Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alex De Minaur, respectively.

“We’ve got a massive match on Friday against Switzerland, who obviously lost 3-0 so they’re going to have to come out and do something.

“They’re going to have high motivation and they’ll be playing with a crowd this time, which obviously Stan wasn’t happy with the other day.”

Wawrinka took to social media to voice his dissatisfaction with the small turnout for their meeting against France but a similar crowd to Wednesday’s 9,290 is expected on Friday.

Given their performances against Australia, Evans and Draper are the front-runners to keep their singles spots ahead of top-ranked Cameron Norrie and Andy Murray, but Smith may yet spring another surprise.

Evans had a strong record against De Minaur but has lost all five meetings with Wawrinka, while Swiss number two Dominic Stricker beat fellow 21-year-old Draper at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals in their only previous match.

Smith welcomes the dilemma, though, adding: “People keep saying you’ve got really difficult selections – well, I’d rather that way to what it was many moons ago.

“I think it’s great, I think it’s testament to all the guys that everyone’s playing at the top of their game.

“We’ve got to weigh everything up because people have played a lot of tennis as well, potentially look at match-ups, but we discuss it as a group and ultimately we’ll make a call on it.”

Draper has managed only 10 tournaments this season because of a succession of injuries, the latest of which to his left shoulder saw him retire at the French Open and then miss Wimbledon, dropping him out of the top 100.

But time on the sidelines has not affected the Londoner’s ability to look like a top-10 player in the making and a run to the fourth-round of the US Open was his best yet at a grand slam.

“It’s been an incredibly challenging year for me,” he said. “I started the year at 38 in the world, everything was going great, and then just got hit by a load of injuries really. Maybe a few mistakes that I’ll learn from and stuff I could have done better.

“The one before Wimbledon was a real blow, I couldn’t play for a month or two, I spent loads of time in a bit of a rut trying to get out of it.

“I worked really hard to get myself back, I knew my time would come again because my tennis has always been there.

“New York was a massive boost for me, I needed it. Then coming here I’ve been really confident.

“It’s all coming together so hopefully I can just keep on going to the end of the season and finish really strong.”

Stuart McInally has been added to Scotland’s World Cup squad after his fellow Edinburgh hooker Dave Cherry suffered a concussion in an accident at the team hotel on Monday.

The 32-year-old slipped down stairs at the team hotel on a day off and hurt his head. He is now following return-to-play protocols, rendering him unavailable for at least the next 12 days.

The decision was therefore taken to end Cherry’s involvement at his first World Cup on medical grounds.

The situation has allowed McInally a remarkable and unexpected career swansong. The 33-year-old announced earlier this summer that he would be retiring following this World Cup but after being part of the provisional training group throughout the build-up, he was omitted when Gregor Townsend named his final 33-man squad last month.

McInally, who captained Scotland into the last World Cup in Japan, arrived in France last week as a standby following a concussion sustained by Ewan Ashman.

However, he has now been officially drafted in to the squad to replace Cherry, who featured as a second-half replacement in Sunday’s 18-3 defeat by South Africa.

Cherry told Scottish Rugby: “I’m hugely disappointed to be leaving the squad with concussion. I’ve loved my time in camp over the summer and gaining my first World Cup cap on Sunday.

“I want to wish the team all the best for the remainder of the competition.”

Ashman is continuing his return-to-play protocols and is currently on track to be available for selection for next Sunday’s match against Tonga in Nice.

Warren Gatland has underlined Wales’ desire to go one better than in three previous Rugby World Cup campaigns and reach the final.

They were semi-finalists in 1987, and then twice under Gatland – 2011 and 2019 – bowing out at that stage on each occasion.

A bonus-point victory over Pool C rivals Fiji last weekend sent Wales off and running, and if they repeat the feat against Portugal on Saturday it would further strengthen quarter-final ambitions.

Australia and Georgia still await, before a possible last-eight appointment with England or Argentina in Marseille next month.

“We have always been confident in the past about World Cups and the opportunity to get the team together for an extended period,” Wales head coach Gatland said.

“We think that we have done well in previous World Cups and would like to get to a final of a World Cup.

“I stated beforehand don’t write us off and that this team is capable of doing something special, and I still believe that.

“Part of the key themes and key message before this World Cup was to make sure we are a hard team to beat, and if we are a hard team to beat then things can happen for you.

“The first priority is to be a really tough team to beat, and if we do that and get things right and our preparation is good and we don’t pick up too many injuries, then there is no reason why we can’t continue to progress a long way into this tournament. That is the plan.”

Portugal are next up, with Gatland making 13 changes to the team that started against Fiji, retaining only wing Louis Rees-Zammit and number eight Taulupe Faletau.

The countries have met just once before – a World Cup qualifier in Lisbon 29 years ago that Wales won 102-11 – with Portugal making a first appearance in the tournament’s pool stage since 2007.

Gatland added: “From past experience with Taulupe, he is a player that gets better with more game-time.

“He hasn’t had a lot of rugby, didn’t play any warm-up games, so it’s just backing him up.

“With Louis, it’s the same sort of situation. He has been fantastic in the last five or six weeks, and I just want to keep him playing as well.

“They (Portugal) are kind of a similar version of Fiji. They play a lot of rugby, they’ve got some exciting players, they like to move the ball around, so we are kind of prepared almost in the same way we prepared against Fiji.

“I thought from a neutral last week if you were watching the games, it (Wales against Fiji) was probably the most exciting game of the weekend in terms of the rugby that was played.

“It wasn’t great being a coach sitting in the box in the last 10 minutes, I can promise you that, but hopefully we can produce another great game of rugby.”

Fiji almost wiped out an 18-point deficit during a frantic final quarter in Bordeaux, while centre Semi Radradra couldn’t gather a pass in the dying seconds that might have led to him scoring a match-winning try.

Wales, though, held on in nerve-shredding fashion to claim a victory that has installed them in many quarters as favourites to win their group.

“We were delighted with the win, delighted with the preparation, everything was going brilliantly for 60-odd minutes with the scoreline. And typical Fiji, they get a bit of a sniff and they came back at us really strong in the last period,” Gatland said.

“That game is done and dealt with, it is past us now and the focus is on Portugal. Hopefully we will do a good job on Saturday and then move on to Australia next week.

“It is a great opportunity for players on Saturday to stake a claim, and if they go out there and someone has a great performance then they are definitely in contention. That’s the way I look at it.”

Frankie Dettori has chosen to ride Arrest rather than Royal Ascot winner Gregory in Saturday’s Betfred St Leger at Doncaster – his final ride in a British Classic.

Dettori had looked sure to partner the John and Thady Gosden-trained Gregory given the way he won the Queen’s Vase in June over the St Leger trip – but Kieran Shoemark will now step into the breach.

Gregory only lost his unbeaten record last time out when dropping down to a mile and a half in the Great Voltigeur at York behind the re-opposing Continuous.

However, recent rain at Doncaster has turned the ground soft meaning Dettori will have a second chance at Classic glory on the Gosdens’ Arrest, who was sent off favourite for the Derby but could finish only tenth on good to firm ground.

He also disappointed on quick ground at Royal Ascot but was impressive back on a soft surface at Newbury against older horses in the Geoffrey Freer last time out.

The Clarehaven stable also has a fine third string in the supplemented Middle Earth (Oisin Murphy), a hugely impressive winner of the Melrose at York’s Ebor meeting.

The King and Queen have a real live chance of tasting success in a British Classic with the William Haggas-trained Desert Hero, himself a Royal Ascot winner, albeit in handicap company in the King George V Stakes.

He subsequently won the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, narrowly beating Simon and Ed Crisford’s Chesspiece and the two will lock horns again.

Aidan O’Brien runs four, Great Voltigeur winner Continuous, Alexandroupolis, Denmark and Tower Of London meaning there were no withdrawals at the 48-hour stage.

Leicester continued their fairytale with a 3-0 victory over Club Brugge in their first ever Champions League match, on this day in 2016.

Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes were still riding high after their stunning Premier League title triumph the previous season when they headed to Belgium.

Marc Albrighton opened the scoring early in the first half, with Riyad Mahrez doubling their advantage from a free-kick before adding a third from the penalty spot in the second half.

Leicester would go on to reach the quarter-finals, eventually being knocked out by Atletico Madrid 2-1 on aggregate.

Ranieri was sacked the day after their 2-1 last-16 first-leg defeat in Seville, with Craig Shakespeare overseeing a 2-0 second-leg win before the defeat to Atletico.

The Foxes went on to secure FA Cup glory in 2021 under Brendan Rodgers but were relegated to the Championship last season, seven years after being crowned Premier League champions.

The Atlanta Braves continued their dominance of the NL East with their sixth straight division title, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 behind Spencer Strider’s major league-leading 17th win on Wednesday.

Atlanta leads the majors with 96 wins and locked up another NL East crown in its 146th game, the second-quickest clinch in the divisional era.

The division title was the Braves’ record 26th, two more than the Yankees or Dodgers.

Strider limited the Phillies to one run and four hits in seven innings, striking out nine to raise his MLB-best total to 259.

Brad Hand fanned two in the eighth and Kirby Yates pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

Austin Riley gave Strider all the support he needed with a two-run homer – his 35th - in the first inning off Christopher Sanchez.

Riley added a sacrifice fly in the third and Kevin Pillar had an RBI double in the fourth.

Sanchez pitched into the eighth inning and struck out a career-high 10.

Philadelphia remained 1 ½ games ahead of the Cubs in the race for the top wild-card spot in the NL.

Montgomery pitches surging Rangers past Blue Jays

Jordan Montgomery and two relievers combined to five-hit the Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers cruised to their fifth straight win with a 10-0 rout.

Montgomery allowed four hits over seven innings before Martin Perez and Ian Kennedy each worked one inning.

Nathaniel Lowe and Mitch Garver hit three-run homers and Robbie Grossman added a two-run shot to help Texas remain one game behind AL West-leading Houston.

The Rangers moved 1 ½ games ahead of the Blue Jays in the wild-card race, sending Toronto to its fourth consecutive loss.

Astros lose combined no-hitter in 9th inning

Hunter Brown and three relievers held the Oakland Athletics hitless for eight innings but the bid for history was broken up with one out in the ninth inning in the Houston Astros’ 6-2 win.

After Ryan Pressly retired Tony Kemp on a groundball to open the ninth, Zach Gelof walked before Ryan Noda grounded a changeup past Pressly and into center field.

Pressly allowed two runs before finishing up the two-hitter as Houston salvaged the series finale against the Athletics, who lost their 100th game.

Yordan Alvarez hit a three-run homer and Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker had solo shots as the Astros remained one game ahead of second-place Texas in the AL West.

Tadhg Beirne believes he and Ireland are still some way from hitting top form at the Rugby World Cup as they bid to avoid being scalped by Tonga.

The towering Munster forward is “gunning” to retain his starting spot for Saturday’s Pool B clash following a two-try turn in last weekend’s 82-8 thrashing of Romania.

Head coach Andy Farrell may opt to rotate his team in Nantes ahead of a crunch Paris showdown against reigning champions South Africa.

But British and Irish Lion Beirne – one of four players to claim a double in Ireland’s curtain raiser in Bordeaux – is eager to continue as he seeks to hit greater heights.

“Every player here wants to play,” said the 31-year-old.

“It comes around once every four years, you never know if you’re going to be fit for one, you never know if you’re going to be selected for one, and then if you get here all you want to do is put on the Irish jersey and go out and represent the country.

“I’m gunning to play again for sure. I still feel like I’ve a way to go to get to my best. I’m certainly trying to improve all the time.”

Tonga – ranked 15th in the world – are preparing for their opening match in France after the tournament schedule handed them a fixture-free opening weekend.

Beirne, who is normally deployed in Ireland’s second row but lined up at blindside flanker against Romania, is braced for a bruising encounter.

“I think physicality is going to be top of their agenda,” he said.

“They’re going to come and try and have a scalp off us for sure. They’re a serious side when you look at the team on paper. I’ve no doubt that they’re going to have a go at us.

“Physically, we certainly need to continue to step it up. From warm-up (matches) into Romania, we’ve slowly been building it but we’re nowhere near where we feel like we can be.”

Despite temperatures exceeding 20 degrees Celsius, Beirne turned up for media duties in Tours wearing a suit, shirt and tie as punishment for being slightly late to a team meeting.

He joked there may be a “French Revolution” in the Ireland squad due to the strict regime run by camp enforcers James Ryan, Jack Conan and Dave Kilcoyne.

“There’s a bit of a dictatorship going on at the moment,” Beirne explained. “We have three lads that call themselves the sheriffs, they’re in charge of any misdemeanours or any fines that need to be taking place.

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“Unfortunately, I turned up a couple of seconds late for a meeting and they decided to fine me.

“There’s a wheel of fortune back in the camp and they have all different punishments on it, so it could land on whatever.

“The reason it’s a dictatorship is because they’re claiming they’re above the law, so there could be a French Revolution yet.

“The power’s definitely going to their heads, particularly Dave Kilcoyne. He’s enjoying it a bit too much for people’s liking.”

Harry Maguire laughed off his Hampden Park hounding as a “little bit of banter” as the under-fire defender said he can cope with pressure from the stands and on his England place.

Little more than two years ago, the centre-back was an ever-present for Manchester United and earned a place in the Euros team of the tournament after helping Gareth Southgate’s side reach the final.

But a drop in form and club game time, including being replaced as United captain, has led pressure and criticism to ratchet up on Maguire to a point that his international manager snapped following Tuesday’s 3-1 friendly win against Scotland.

Furious Southgate said the treatment of Maguire is “ridiculous”, “a joke” and “beyond anything I’ve ever seen” – a narrative that he believes led to home fans goading him mercilessly in Glasgow.

Every pass Maguire made was met by an ironic cheer after being brought on as a half-time substitute at Hampden Park.

“Well, it pretty much takes the pressure away from my team-mates and puts it all on myself,” Maguire said. “It makes them play better, for sure.

“It is a little bit of banter and it is a hostile environment, coming away to Scotland.

“We wanted to put on a performance and we have dominated from start to finish. We have given them a goal, which is a bit unfortunate you could say.

“But, yes, it was a great reaction from us all. We stayed calm, we stayed composed. I think it was a hostile environment.

“We knew coming here, when you hear the national anthem and the way they disrespect that, we knew it would be hostile and in the second half I got most of it.

“I am happy to go with that, don’t worry about that.”

Maguire was touched by the away support’s backing in Glasgow as Scottish fans attempted to rattle him.

“No, I would not say I am a person who struggles with pressure mentally,” Maguire said. “I have been through a lot in the last couple of years and I have been Manchester United captain for nearly four years.

“You take a huge lot of responsibility and everything that comes with it and that is a lot of bad as well as good.

“But it was a huge honour and of course it is a hostile environment here, which is how I described it, and they piled pressure on myself. I would not say I am used to it but I can deal with it.”

Maguire is grateful for the backing of Southgate, whose faith he believes he repaid with his performances in Scotland and away to Ukraine when he made his first start of the season on Saturday.

The 30-year-old brushed aside suggestions he was rusty but wants the rhythm back of playing week in, week out, saying he is confident that “the luck will turn” if he keeps working hard.

Maguire now turns his attention to the fight for his place at United, where a lack of minutes could put his place at Euro 2024 in jeopardy – something he says is “too far away” to worry about.

West Ham did offer him a route to regular action in the summer but the defender said “we didn’t come to an agreement” and United were happy for him to stay.

“Of course, my England career is a big priority,” he added. “And so is my club career.

“I considered everything and I know, at the moment, when I have not started a game in the first four games of the season, the story comes to me.

“I finished off last season with two very strong performances for England and I have played in all five matches to help put us where we are in qualifying, so I need to keep performing when I get chosen.

“Listen, at club football, I want to play games, I want to play football.

“The first four weeks were hard because it was one game a week and the manager didn’t select me but we have lots of games coming up now and I am sure I will play lots of games.”

The Texas Rangers' playoff push won't include Max Scherzer.

And should the Rangers make the postseason, it's unlikely the three-time Cy Young Award winner will be able to pitch then, either.

Scherzer is being shut down for the rest of the regular season because of a strained muscle in his pitching shoulder, the Rangers announced on Wednesday.

Texas general manager Chris Young added that should the Rangers make the playoffs, it's still unlikely he'd be able to pitch.

The 39-year-old Scherzer won't need surgery and will be evaluated in two weeks.

The MLB regular season ends in 2 1/2 weeks on October 1.

Scherzer exited Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays with one out in the sixth inning with what was then described as a right triceps spasm. The eight-time All-Star had not allowed a run while scattering three hits and striking out two.

With the win, the Rangers moved a half-game ahead of the Blue Jays for the second wild-card spot in the AL. Texas entered play Wednesday one game behind the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West.

Acquired at the trade deadline from the New York Mets, Scherzer went 4-2 with a 3.20 ERA and 53 strikeouts over 45 innings in eight starts for Texas. He finishes his 16th season in the majors with a 13-6 record to go with a 3.77 ERA in 27 starts, striking out 174 in 152 2/3 innings.

Scherzer is in the second year of a three-year, $130 million contract he signed with the Mets in November 2021. The contract includes an opt-out after the current season. If he declines to opt out, then he’ll be under contract for 2024 at a salary of $43.3 million.