ARLINGTON — Prince Fielder stayed home when the Texas Rangers left for Detroit and a series against his
old team.
Fielder, who has missed four games because of a herniated disk in his neck, is scheduled to be examined
in Dallas on Thursday by specialist Dr. Drew Dossett.
After a 4-3 victory over Seattle on Wednesday at home, Texas traveled without Fielder for the four-game
series that starts Thursday.
The first baseman had played in 547 consecutive games, then the longest active streak in the majors,
before receiving an injection Saturday to treat his neck.
Texas acquired Fielder last winter from the Tigers in a trade for second baseman Ian Kinsler. Fielder,
signed through 2020, has hit .247 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 42 games this season.
Depending on what happens with the exam, Fielder could join the team in Detroit.
Fielder was initially listed in the lineup Tuesday night against the Mariners, but was scratched more
than three hours before the game after feeling weakness in his arm while taking swings in the batting
cage.
Fielder said then that he planned to play Wednesday and strongly insisted, with the use of an expletive,
that wanting to get back in the lineup had nothing to do with the series against the Tigers. The
four-game set will be the Rangers’ only visit this season to Detroit.
Before Wednesday’s game, Rangers manager Ron Washington said Fielder “feels normal, but he felt normal
(Tuesday) until he swung the bat.”
Fielder played every game the past two seasons while with the Tigers, and hadn’t missed a game since
Sept. 14, 2010. The last time he had missed consecutive games was Aug. 24-25, 2007, while with
Milwaukee.
Center fielder Leonys Martin was out of the Rangers starting lineup Wednesday for the second day in a row
because of a stiff neck, but he entered the game late as a defensive replacement.