Edinson Volquez said Saturday that the 2019 season will be his last in the majors but that he is working hard to try to return to the mound for the Texas Rangers before the season ends.

The right-hander has been out since suffering a right elbow strain on April 5. He threw a bullpen before the Rangers' game on Saturday against the Oakland Athletics.

"I don't want to go out like this," Volquez, 36, told reporters. "If there is a chance, I can do it for two months or two weeks, why not. I'm not doing this to try and get a contract for next year. I just want to prove it to myself. If I can come out of the bullpen for the Rangers, that would be great."

The Rangers signed Volquez in 2017 while he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. He missed all of last season before returning to the majors this season and making two starts before injuring his elbow in April.

Volquez is 93-87 with a 4.43 ERA in 14 major league seasons. He was selected to his only All-Star Game in 2008 when he won a career-best 17 games and finished fourth in National League Rookie of the Year voting for the Cincinnati Reds. He won a World Series title with the Kansas City Royals in 2015.

The New York Yankees placed CC Sabathia on the 10-day injured list with right knee inflammation Sunday, one day after the veteran left-hander struggled in a loss to the rival Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Sabathia, 39, has failed to reach the fifth inning in both of his past two starts, allowing 11 earned runs and six home runs over 8⅓ innings in that span.

The six-time All-Star yielded five runs and nine hits in 4⅓ innings Saturday as the Yankees lost their third straight game to the Red Sox.

"Just didn't make enough pitches," said Sabathia, who plans to retire at season's end. "That's a good lineup over there, and left too many pitches over the middle. ... With the stuff I have now, I have to be pitching to the corners."

Over the past seven games, New York's starters have given up 52 runs (48 earned) on 52 hits in 26 innings. The staff overall has been pounded for 73 runs in that span, with 65 coming in the past six, the most in a six-game stretch in the franchise's illustrious history.

Since June 29, the rotation has posted a 7.09 ERA, the second-worst ERA in the majors across that span. Only the Detroit Tigers' 7.30 mark is worse.

Sabathia, who is 5-6 with a 4.78 ERA this season, called the rotation's recent stretch "frustrating."

Information from ESPN's Coley Harvey was used in this report.

The Tampa Bay Rays acquired infielder Eric Sogard from the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, bolstering a lineup beset by injuries with a veteran who can play every infield position as well as corner-outfield spots, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN.

The 33-year-old Sogard is hitting .300/.363/.477 after signing a minor league deal over the winter with Toronto following a disappointing 2018 season. He excelled as a utilityman for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017, and his power spike this season has led to a career year.

Tampa Bay continues to be among the most aggressive teams in pursuing trades before the July 31 deadline, according to sources. The Rays' desire for versatility is perfectly embodied by Sogard, who was also pursued by the Chicago Cubs among other teams.

The Blue Jays are expected to receive two players to be named later in exchange for Sogard.

With Sogard's departure, the Blue Jays could soon summon Bo Bichette, their top prospect and a middle infielder, to join fellow rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and other core players in their rebuild. The Sogard deal was the first of a number of expected moves that include trading starter Marcus Stroman and relievers Ken Giles and Daniel Hudson.

This season, the major leagues have one and only one trade deadline, as all of those August waiver shenanigans are now a thing of the past. As a result, July 31 is the last opportunity for teams to swap players before the end of the 2019 season. If you're curious as to what some of the bigger moves being made in these final days might mean for your fantasy teams, check out our fantasy staff's reactions here. Check back frequently as more deals are announced to learn more.

Tristan H. Cockcroft on Sergio Romo to the Minnesota Twins

Our first deal involving a closer is now on the books, but judging by his 22.5% rostered rate in ESPN leagues, Romo's trade to the Twins from the Miami Marlins probably won't cause too many of us to sweat. It's a greater (potential) loss in terms of save chances for AL-only, rather than standard mixed managers. Romo has historically been a much more dominant pitcher against righties, rather than left-handed bats, never affording the former greater than a .720 OPS in any single year and limiting them to a .574 mark over the course of his 12-year career. He could fit into the mix of what has been a season-long "closer by committee" arrangement in Minnesota.

Taylor Rogers, who has 11 of Minnesota's last 14 successful save conversions, still seems to be the odds-on favorite to close most nights, but after having blown two of his past three opportunities, Romo could sneak in a matchups-driven chance from time to time. He should essentially serve as the team's new version of Blake Parker, who had four of the last seven saves that didn't go to Rogers prior to being designated for assignment last week.

In Romo's absence, the Marlins could similarly turn to a committee, with their bullpen lacking any clear and/or experienced options to graduate into the role. Nick Anderson, a relatively hard thrower with a 2.70 FIP in 43 appearances in what has been a breakthrough rookie campaign, seems to be the likeliest candidate after having served as Romo's primary setup man for the past month-plus. Left-hander Jose Quijada, who has had four scoreless appearances in his past five outings since the All-Star break (and has begun working in late-and-close stints), could serve as the team's top "matchups guy" when the opponent is lefty-stacked in the ninth inning.

Anderson's extreme fly-ball leaning and 7.8% walk rate do make him a slightly shaky full-time option. Add to that Quijada's even-higher walk rate (17.9%) and similar fly-ball leaning, and it's possible that the flame-throwing (but wild) Tayron Guerrero, or perhaps converted starters Trevor Richards or Jarlin Garcia, could push their way into the role in time. Guerrero has long looked like the "skills-oriented future closer" here, making him a wise stash in NL-only formats.

Georgian world number 16 Nikoloz Basilashvili became the first player to defend the Hamburg Open title since Roger Federer in 2005 with a three-set win over Russian Andrey Rublev.

Basilashvili, 27, hit 26 forehand winners in a 7-5 4-6 6-3 victory.

Rublev's serve came under pressure in the first and third sets, Basilashvili converting four of 15 break points.

Despite victory, Basilashvili has lost ranking points as he won last year's event after going through qualifying.

Basilashvili went on to secure the title at the ATP Tour 500 clay-court event after saving two match points in his semi-final against Hamburg-born world number five Alexander Zverev.

Gareth Bale's proposed move to Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning has been called off by Real Madrid, according to the BBC.

Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane had said he was hopeful Bale would leave Madrid this summer.

The 13-time European champions are keen to sign Paul Pogba, with Manchester United seeking upwards of £150 million for the France international, and getting Bale's wages off the books would have been one way to raise funds.

However, despite a reported offer of £1m-a-week for Bale from Jiangsu, the deal will not be going through before the Chinese transfer window closes on Wednesday.

Speaking after Madrid's 3-1 International Champions Cup defeat to Bayern Munich in Houston on July 21, Zidane said he hoped Bales "leaves soon."

Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett told ESPN FC, he felt the comments were a "disgrace" and Zidane later claimed his harsh words were down to his "suspect" Spanish.

Babar Azam will play for Somerset in their County Championship match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston next month.

The club announced on Sunday that Azam, the No.1 T20I player on the ICC rankings who joined Somerset for the Vitality Blast season, would be its overseas player for the match, beginning on August 18th because of registration regulations which meant there was not enough time to de-register him and re-register fellow Pakistan internationalAzhar Ali.

Somerset head coach Jason Kerr said: "You can only have two overseas players on the books at one time and due to the regulations, there simply isn't the necessary time frame to re-register Azhar Ali. Fortunately for us Babar Azam has agreed to play in our four-day game at Warwickshire, which falls right in the middle of the Vitality Blast. If he hadn't agreed, we would have been without an overseas player for that match.

"He's fitted in really well and we're all looking forward to seeing him play. Our philosophy is to build a home-grown side with the addition of world class players, and Babar Azam certainly fulfills that criteria. He's one of the game's rising stars and to have him in our side for that one-off game and for him to be a part of our family for the Vitality Blast can only bode well for us."

Azhar will return for the final three Championship matches.

"He's an outstanding character and fully understands the situation. He wanted to put the team first and I have no doubt that he will make significant contributions for us at the back end of the season," Kerr said.

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – On the same night as his younger brother won at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway, Dominic Scelzi showed that he, too, still has plenty of fight left in him this year.

Scelzi picked off Chase Johnson with just two laps remaining to win Saturday’s King of the West-NARC Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series feature at Santa Maria Raceway.

RELATED: Gio Scelzi Becomes Youngest Knoxville Winner

Piloting the potent Roth Motorsports KPC sprint car, Scelzi started fifth in the grid and quickly moved into the hunt in the 30-lapper.

He passed Bud Kaeding for third on lap eight, powered past initial race leader Nathan Rolfe on the 13th circuit, and began to apply pressure on Johnson three laps later.

Johnson, piloting the Fire Suppression Engineering Maxim, took the lead by motoring past Rolfe on the backchute on lap five. Once out front, he cut a stellar pace through slower traffic with both Scelzi and Kaeding shadowing his every move in lap traffic.

Scelzi made several attempts on both the high and low side before winning a no holds barred drag race down the front straightaway with two to go. He held on the rest of the way to score his third King of the West-NARC win of the season.

Johnson secured the runner-up spot at the checkered, chased by fast qualifier Kaeding in the Alviso Rock Maxim. Eighth-starting Willie Croft drove across the line in fourth aboard his Amerikote-backed sprint car, chased by DJ Netto.

The second five were Rolfe, who scored a career-best series finish in sixth, Geoff Ensign, point leader Ryan Bernal, Kenny Allen and Kaleb Montgomery.

The Swift Metal Finishing Hard Charger was Montgomery, who started 17th on the grid.

The finish:

Dominic Scelzi, Chase Johnson, Bud Kaeding, Willie Croft, DJ Netto, Nathan Rolfe, Geoff Ensign, Ryan Bernal, Kenny Allen, Kaleb Montgomery, Craig Stidham, Tim Estenson, Gary Paulson, Jenna Frazier, Burt Foland Jr., Geoff Stole, JJ Ringo, Mark Barroso, Mitchell Faccinto, Sean Watts.

Lap Leader(s): Rolfe 1-4, Johnson 5-28, Scelzi 29-30.