Rangers' Max Scherzer plays it 'smart,' exits with forearm tightness

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers starter Max Scherzer left Friday night's 5-1 loss to the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins due to tightness in his forearm.

Scherzer, in his sixth start for the Rangers since being acquired in a trade from the New York Mets, struck out seven and allowed only one hit in six innings before he departed after 88 pitches with a 1-0 lead.

Scherzer insisted afterward that he is OK and just didn't want the forearm tightness to become an extended problem.

"There in the sixth inning, I could tell my location was starting to get off," he said. "Now I can tell that I was kind of at my limit, even though my shoulder was good, my arm's good. I didn't go out there and put…