AL West-leading Rangers lose versatile Quantrill to lat injury

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The AL West-leading Texas Rangers put versatile right-hander Cal Quantrill on the 15-day injured list Sunday, a day after he exited following only four batters and 12 pitches because of right lat tightness.

Hard-throwing right-hander Winston Santos was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock and joined the Rangers before the finale of their three-game series against Toronto.

About an hour before the game, the Rangers said right fielder Brandon Nimmo was being scratched from the starting lineup because of illness.

Before the IL move was announced, manager Skip Schumaker said the Rangers knew going into Saturday night's game that Quantrill's velocity was lower.

Quantrill (9-5) was showing no signs of pain when Schumaker, pitching coach Jordan Tiegs and head trainer Matt Lucero went to the mound in the second inning and he came out of the game. He has a 2.86 ERA in 32 games (15 starts) overall after going to spring training with the Rangers on a minor league deal.

He left his previous start after six innings and 70 pitches at Arizona last Sunday with back soreness.

The 31-year-old has a 1.75 ERA (11 earned runs in 56 2/3 innings) over his last 11 appearances (10 starts). Cam Schlittler of the New York Yankees at 1.64 is the only qualified pitcher with a better ERA over that span.

Santos is beginning his third stint with the Rangers, though his only appearance in the first two was his big league debut on July 1 at Cleveland, where he allowed two runs in two innings. He has 103 strikeouts in 83 1/3 innings in the minor leagues this season.