KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Royals left-hander Cole Ragans left his start against Cleveland after three scoreless innings on Wednesday night because of left triceps and elbow soreness.
Luinder Avila started warming up in the bottom of the third and entered to start the fourth.
Ragans, 28, allowed one hit, walked two and struck out four, throwing 58 pitches. He is 1-4 with a 4.84 ERA this season.
He walked two batters in the first inning and escaped the two-on, one-out trouble by striking out Rhys Hoskins and David Fry.
After a perfect second, Chase DeLauter doubled with two outs in the third and José RamÃrez reached on a throwing error by third baseman Maikel Garcia. Hoskins hit an inning-ending popup.
Ragans had Tommy John surgery in March 2018 while in the Texas minor league system, then tore the grafted ligament during his rehabilitation and had a second Tommy John surgery in May 2019. He returned to the major leagues in August 2022.
He was traded to Kansas City in August 2023 and became a first-time All-Star in 2024, going 11-9 with a 3.14 ERA in 32 starts. He was sidelined from the Royals between June 5 and Sept. 17 last year because of a strained left rotator cuff.
