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MINNEAPOLIS -- Texas Rangers ace Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start at Minnesota because of neck stiffness he woke up with, and right-hander Scott Baker was summoned back from the bullpen to face his former team Tuesday night. It was yet another injury to a star player for the ailing Rangers, who entered the day with wins in five of their previous six games despite the persistence of health problems. "Just go play. Everyone still has a job to do. Weve lost a lot of good ballplayers, but weve also got a lot of good ballplayers out there," said manager Ron Washington, who learned of the latest setback around noon, seven hours before first pitch. The Rangers were hoping Darvish would be able to avoid the disabled list, but they were waiting for results of a precautionary MRI test on his neck, which was stiff enough in spring training to keep him from pitching for nearly three weeks and delay his season debut by one start until April 6. General manager Jon Daniels told reporters that Darvish said this injury didnt feel as bad as the last one, but given all the time the Rangers have spent in the training room this year they were proceeding cautiously. Baker, who was a second-round draft pick by the Twins out of Oklahoma State in 2003, spent five seasons at the front of their rotation until an elbow injury forced Tommy John ligament replacement surgery in 2012. Baker gave up six runs in six innings Friday at Detroit in his first start of the year but was intended to be moved back to long relief afterward. Against the Twins, he took the mound with three days of rest. Whether he stays in the rotation this time will depend, of course, on Darvishs status. The 27-year-old Japanese sensation is 4-2 in nine starts with a 2.35 ERA, the fourth-best in the league. He has 71 strikeouts in 61 1-3 innings. "If he can pitch Sunday, I want him to pitch," Washington said, acknowledging hed prefer Darvish not have to swing the bat or run the bases with the Rangers playing an interleague series at Washington. The Rangers will have to make a roster move Wednesday regardless, with left-hander Joe Saunders due to come off the disabled list and pitch against the Twins. Saunders has been out since April 4, when he was hit by a line drive on his left ankle in the fourth inning at Tampa Bay. Saunders suffered a stress fracture and made four rehabilitation starts in the minors this month. "Theres no limit on Joe. The Minnesota Twins are going to tell us how limited hes going to be," Washington said. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . He made another correct read. The Browns, who have been shuttling quarterbacks on and off the field all season, finally got some good news on that front: Campbells ribs are only bruised. Wholesale Jerseys USA . The team announced the defensive coordinator will not be offered a contract extension. http://www.wholesalechinajerseysfreeshipping.com/. The Gatineau Olympiques head coach will lead Canada in its quest to end its gold medal drought at the 2015 world junior hockey championship held in Montreal and Toronto at the end of this year. Wholesale Jerseys . -- Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson is being checked for a possible concussion after blowing a tire on his way to the first workout of spring training. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys . The 36-year-old said a few months ago he would hang up his boots at the end of the season, but has since changed his mind. "Its a pity the season is ending now, as I am in good physical shape and enjoying myself," Di Natale said.TORONTO -- This isnt a situation the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to find themselves in. Two centres are out indefinitely: Tyler Bozak with a hamstring injury and Dave Bolland after undergoing surgery to repair a severed tendon in his ankle. That has meant making adjustments, most notably regular left-winger James van Riemsdyks move to centre, and increased pressure on Nazem Kadri and Jay McClement. "Obviously theres going to be more responsibility," Kadri said. "Thats pretty much the reason why Reemer (van Riemsdyk) is moving to the middle is because were kind of running out in that position. But I think everyones pretty prepared and the coaching staffs done a good job preparing us." Having plenty of time to prepare is the biggest positive right now for the Leafs. With six days between the end of their Western Conference road trip and Fridays game against the New Jersey Devils, coach Randy Carlyle has ample opportunity to help his players adjust to the new reality caused by injuries. "We believe that repetition is going to re-enforce some of the staples which we believe we have to play to and how we have to play," Carlyle said Wednesday. "We look at our team to play a tighter brand of hockey and to continue to show some growth. We think our growth has stalled with our team, and we dont think that weve played to the template that weve created and some of the things that were struggling with are things that we have to overcome." Picking up the level of play is something Carlyle has stressed for a while, even when the Leafs (10-5-0, 20 points) were in first place in the Atlantic Division. But its something else to have to overcome losing two centres this early in the season. Bozak has been out since injuring his hamstring Oct. 25 at the Columbus Blue Jackets. Losing him put more onus on Kadri, but then Bolland suffering a severed tendon Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks put Toronto in quite the quagmire. Naturally, buzz about the Leafs making calls around the NHL about forwards picked up. "We are going to look at and explore all of the options that are available to us, but theres nobody in the league looking to give you a handout, I guarantee you," Carlyle said. The option the Leafs went for was signing veteran centre Jerred Smithson to a one-year contract. Smithson, 34, spent last season with the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers and was on a tryout with their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. Smithson is expected to fill in on the fourth line, while van Riemsdyk is being counted on to centre the first line. Van Riemsdyk has played centre before, though that was during his two seasons at the University of New Hampshire from 2007 to 2009. Van Riemsdyk saidd Monday moving to the middle doesnt change his approach too much, but it is an adjustment.dddddddddddd "When youre used to playing a certain position, you kind of just naturally know where to go and maybe you have to think about it a little bit more," he said. "Its a lot about timing, centre, just being in the right spot at the right time so youre not losing your speed and all that stuff. I think its a timing thing and you get that through repetition and some experience there." And repetition is what hes getting. On Monday van Riemsdyk didnt sound quite sure whether hed actually be making the move to centre or was just practising there, but Wednesday he was back between Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel. It was one of many chances the 24-year-old will have to get used to centre before games against the Devils and Boston Bruins. "Obviously you want a guy to get some practice time in," Carlyle said. "We try to work on things that hes going to be faced with in the game against Jersey. Down low is one of the coverages its going to have to be something thats ingrained in his mind here over the next three or four days. Theres no time like practice." Wednesdays practice was over an hour long. Even if thats not the norm the rest of the week, van Riemsdyk will get some help from teammates off the ice about his adjustment. "All the centremen all the time we get together and kind of review what has to happen, whether its in the D-zone or neutral zone or whatever it may be," Kadri said. "Also faceoffs is another big thing with that. Usually the centremans responsible for calling out the plays off the draw. Really its just being prepared and getting prepared to execute a game plan." Van Riemsdyk said he feels "OK" about his faceoff game, but after taking just 10 draws so far this season itll become a bigger area of concern. To take some pressure off van Riemsdyk, Carlyle could lean even more heavily on McClement and Kadri in the faceoff circle. This kind of hole requires more than just one player to step up, and Carlyle is asking his players to consider the situation from a team aspect. "Were all going to help each other out," Kadri said. "We got four other guys, five other guys to help us out. Really weve just got to stick together as a team and fight through some adversity." Notes -- In conjunction with singing Smithson, the Leafs assigned centre Trevor Smith to the Marlies. ... Defenceman Mark Fraser (knee) took part in a full practice Wednesday and is expected to be available to the Leafs for Fridays game against New Jersey. Its uncertain if Fraser will play, as Carlyle said decisions must be made with eight options on the blue-line. ' ' '