Texas Rangers starter Cal Quantrill exited Saturday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Globe Life Field because of right lat tightness.

The right-handed pitcher worked a scoreless first inning before recording the opening out of the second. His final pitch was an 87.8 mph fastball, nearly six miles per hour below his usual velocity of 94 mph. After the pitch, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker, pitching coach Jordan Tiegs and trainer Matt Lucero visited the mound. Following a brief conversation, Quantrill was taken out after only 1.1 innings.

The injury scare comes just days after Quantrill dealt with back tightness during his previous outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He left that start after six innings but later told reporters Thursday that he was “good to go” for Saturday. The 31-year-old had also been one of Texas' most dependable starters since being called up from Triple-A Round Rock on April 15.

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Quantrill has made 14 starts for the Rangers this season, going 6-4 with a 2.51 ERA in those outings. Across 109 2/3 innings overall, he owns a 2.86 ERA. He has struck out 81 batters and issued 25 walks. His recent stretch has been especially solid, with a 1.80 ERA since the All-Star break, third-best in the American League, while he entered Saturday having logged a 1.82 ERA across his previous nine starts since July 28 and six consecutive quality starts.

Jordan Montgomery took over after Quantrill's departure, creating another demanding bullpen situation for Texas. Montgomery had already thrown 16 pitches two days earlier.

The Rangers entered Saturday 1.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox for the American League's final wild-card position and one game ahead of the Blue Jays. Texas had also relied quite heavily on its bullpen, with Nathan Eovaldi, Cody Bradford and Trevor Williams each throwing at least four scoreless innings in the previous three games. It was the first time in Rangers history that an individual reliever had thrown four or more scoreless innings in three consecutive games.