Mark Teixeira is expected to return to the Yankees for Monday's game against the Red Sox, provided he comes through one final workout on Sunday and is cleared to play.

New York has three games left this season and is tied with Baltimore for first place in the American League East.

Teixeira hasn't played since Sept. 8, when he attempted to return to action after missing 10 games with a strained left calf.

In the 30 games Teixeira has missed since originally suffering the injury Aug. 27, the Yankees have gone 17-13 and have seen their lead in the division shrink from 3.5 games to zero.

Ricky Romero was forced to leave his final start of the season on Saturday afternoon against the Yankees with a left knee injury.

Romero didn't come back out for the fourth inning after finishing the third in obvious pain.

He has won only once since June 22 and matched a franchise record by losing 13 consecutive decisions before snapping the skid his last time out.

Robinson Cano was hit on the hand by a pitch on Friday night against the Blue Jays.

He had X-rays which came back negative.

"I was worried a little bit,'' Cano said. "But everything is OK."

He was in the lineup for Saturday's game against Toronto, batting cleanup and playing second base.

"I'm sure he has a little bit of soreness, but there's no broken bones so we don't have to worry about that," Joe Girardi said.

Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer will miss his scheduled start Friday against the Twins because of tightness in his pitching shoulder.

Drew Smyly will start in Scherzer's place against the Twins, according to an ESPN.com report.

Alex Rodriguez was not in the lineup for the Yankees on Wednesday afternoon against the Twins.

Rodriguez took a foul tip off his left foot in Tuesday night's game.

"It stiffened up a little bit after the game," he said. "It's pretty sore."

Rodriguez did not undergo X-rays and Joe Girardi is optimistic that he won't have to miss more than one game.

Michael Bourn doesn't condone head-first slides, but woke up Sunday with a sore and swollen left thumb after going against his own advice.

Bourn jammed his thumb sliding into second base in Saturday's win against the Phillies. He was not in the lineup on Sunday.

Braves rookie Andrelton Simmons recently returned from an eight-week stint on the disabled list after breaking his hand on a head-first slide. Jason Heyward was slowed during his stellar rookie season by a thumb injury following a head-first slide.

"I know, and that's what I tell them all the time – don't slide head-first," Bourn said. "And look what I did. Sliding head-first."

After he returned to Texas for tests on his blurred vision, the Rangers have decided to keep Josh Hamilton there through the weekend. He will not play against the Mariners.

The issues with his vision have hampered Hamilton at the plate and in the field.

Doctors have not identified a clear cause for the symptoms.

Hamilton is hitting .287 and entered Friday leading the American League with 42 home runs.

Josh Hamilton did not play on Thursday night as he instead flew back to Texas to be examined by team doctors.

Hamilton left Tuesday's game in the third inning with sinus symptoms, particularly blurred vision. He reportedly had a sinus MRI on Wednesday that came back negative.

The Athletics will have to deal with more adversity after Brett Anderson left his start on Wednesday after falling while delivering a pitch.

Anderson has a right oblique strain, an injury that typically takes 10 days to several weeks to heal.

Ryan Zimmerman planned to get a cortisone shot in his right shoulder before Washington's doubleheader against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

Davey Johnson said offseason surgery to clean out Zimmerman's shoulder "will definitely be seriously considered."

He entered Wednesday batting .284 with 22 homers and 84 RBIs.