Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow left after the fourth inning Monday night with an elbow injury. Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

CHICAGO — Tampa Bay Rays ace Tyler Glasnow has a partially torn elbow ligament, the team said Tuesday, putting in doubt his future for the rest of this season and beyond.

An MRI showed Glasnow had a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament and also a flexor strain. The test was done after the right-hander exited Monday night’s game in Chicago against the White Sox after four innings.

Glasnow said he won’t have surgery for now, and instead will try to strengthen the area. He plans to see another doctor on Friday.

If Glasnow chose to undergo Tommy John surgery, that would sideline this season and could prevent him from pitching next year, too.

The Rays, who reached the World Series last season and own the best record in the majors this year, put Glasnow on the 10-day injured list and recalled infielder Mike Brosseau from Triple-A Durham.

Glasnow is 5-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 14 starts, tied for the most in the majors. The 27-year-old has struck out 123 in 88 innings.

Though he is just 20-20 with a 4.04 ERA in six seasons, the 6-foot-8 Glasnow is considered one of baseball’s top pitchers. His future looked bright until he was pulled from Monday night’s game.

Glasnow allowed two runs on three hits and left with Tampa Bay leading 3-2. The Rays went on to win 5-2 in a matchup of teams that entered with the two best records in the majors.

Glasnow said he sensed something wasn’t right in the elbow as he tossed his final pitches in the fourth. He told the coaching staff and was replaced by Ryan Thompson to start the fifth.

“The last couple of pitches I felt just a little tug,” Glasnow said after the game. “I didn’t want to go out and chance it. The velo was still there, it just felt not right.”

ATHLETICS: The winningest manager in Oakland Athletics history is staying put through at least next season after the club exercised Bob Melvin’s contract option for 2022.

Melvin has guided the A’s to an 808-715 record since taking over on June 9, 2011. He recently passed Tony La Russa for most victories by an Oakland manager and last weekend became the 35th person in major league history with 1,300 managerial wins.

His A’s teams have reached three straight playoffs, winning the AL West during last year’s shortened 60-game season. Oakland beat the White Sox in the wild-card round to stop a nine-game losing streak in winner-take-all postseason games, a major league record that dated to the 1973 World Series, before losing to the rival Astros in a four-game AL division series.

The A’s had lost six straight playoff series since sweeping Minnesota in the 2006 Division Series.

The 59-year-old Melvin, a Manager of the Year in both leagues, previously led the Mariners and Diamondbacks then took over guiding the A’s during the 2011 season following the firing of Bob Geren.

In 2012, Oakland became the first team in major league history to win a division or pennant after trailing by five games with fewer than 10 to play, sweeping three games against Texas to win the division over the Rangers.

NATIONALS: The Washington Nationals placed staff ace Max Scherzer on the 10-day injured list with a groin problem. The move is retroactive to Sunday.

Scherzer “tweaked” his groin in the first inning during his start on Saturday. He warmed up in the outfield Monday before beginning a bullpen session, which was expected to be 31 pitches. Scherzer threw 10 pitches, then stopped, saying the groin issue prevented him from driving through his pitches.

WHITE SOX: Second baseman Nick Madrigal will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair tears in his right hamstring.

The AL Central leaders, who have overcome significant injuries this season, said Madrigal was expected to be fully recovered by next spring.

Madrigal was hurt last week trying to beat out a grounder. Chicago had put him on the 60-day injured list and held out hope he might recover to play again this year.

The 24-year-old rookie had been a sparkplug for the White Sox, hitting .305 , scoring 30 runs and driving in 21 over 54 games. He was tied for the AL lead with four triples.

Danny Mendrick and Leury Garcia were expected to share second base in Madrigal’s absence.

YANKEES: Luis Severino, who was making a rehab start on Saturday with the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades, has a low Grade 2 groin strain, according to Manager Aaron Boone.

“He’s in New York now, he’s actually already up and doing some things on the treadmill and other things like that,” Boone said. “He’ll probably try and keep his arm going with some light catch. We’ll certainly probably hold his return back by about a month, we think. We were hoping to get him back by the end of this month. That’ll, obviously, be on hold.”

DODGERS: Outfielder Cody Bellinger is returning to the injured list with a left hamstring strain.

Los Angeles recalled right-hander Mitch White before Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies to take the roster spot of Bellinger, who left Friday’s game against Texas in the fifth inning.

The hamstring injury is the latest physical ailment for the 2019 NL MVP. Bellinger missed 46 games earlier this season with a hairline fracture to his left leg. He had shoulder surgery in the offseason.