The Texas Rangers fired offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker after the team’s extended struggles scoring runs.

The decision was announced after the Rangers won 8-1 on Sunday in their series finale against AL West-leading Seattle. Even with that outburst, the Rangers (17-18) were last in the American League with 113 runs.

Before the win over the Mariners, the Rangers had scored just 30 runs during a 2-9 stretch, and half of those came when they finished with a season-high 15 runs against Oakland on Tuesday. They opened the series against Seattle with losses of 13-1 and 2-1.

Chris Young, the team’s president of baseball operations, said after lengthy discussions, it was “the appropriate time to provide our hitters with a new voice as we pursue goals of winning the division and reaching the postseason.”

The team said the structure of the club’s hitting staff would be addressed in the coming days.

Ecker, 39, was in his fourth season as the club’s offensive coordinator after being hired on Nov. 1, 2021. He helped the Rangers win their only World Series title in 2023.

Boston’s Casas undergoes surgery: Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas, 25, underwent surgery to repair the ruptured patella tendon he suffered in Boston’s victory over Minnesota on Friday night. The surgery was performed by Dr. Eric Berkson at Massachusetts General Hospital. Casas is out for the season.

Mets’ Winkler undergoes MRI: Mets left fielder Jesse Winker had an MRI on Sunday after leaving the first game of New York’s doubleheader at St. Louis with right side discomfort.

Manager Carlos Mendoza said Winker was hurt while making a throw in the third inning of the Mets’ 6-5 loss.

“On the right side in the oblique area, he got hurt on the throw to home plate,” Mendoza said. “So, we’ll see what we’re dealing with here.”

Mendoza acknowledged there’s always concern when the word oblique is mentioned.

“When you hear that area, those are tricky,” Mendoza said. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself here.”

Close call for Boston ace: Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet had a close call Sunday when a line drive skipped off his glove and nose on its way to second base for a groundout.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora rushed to the mound with a team trainer after the left-hander narrowly missed a direct hit off the bat of Minnesota shortstop Carlos Correa in the fourth inning. The ball skimmed off Crochet’s glove as he turned his head before it hit his nose and continued its path.

Cora and the trainer asked for a towel and Crochet had a small trickle of blood coming out as he blew his nose.

“Fine,” said Crochet after Boston’s 5-4 loss to the Twins. “It barely grazed me, obviously, just more shooken up at the initial impact than anything.”

McCullers finally returns: Thirty months after his last appearance, Lance McCullers Jr. finally made it back in a major league game.

McCullers, 31, started Sunday for the Houston Astros and threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings in his first outing since Game 3 of the 2022 World Series in Philadelphia. McCullers had surgery in June 2023 to repair his right flexor tendon and to remove a bone spur. Then he was shut down after a setback last year.

He kept the White Sox off the scoreboard in his first game back, allowing three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Yankees’ Volpe sits out: Shortstop Anthony Volpe was out of the Yankees’ lineup against the Rays while appearing to escape serious injury when he hurt his left shoulder on a dive trying to get to a grounder.

“X-rays, MRI — good news,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s sore today, but I feel like we’re probably in a good spot.”