D-backs’ Trevor Cahill leaves early with knee injury vs. Cleveland

The last two Cactus League starts haven’t gone very well for Arizona Diamondbacks’ right-hander Trevor Cahill.

March 6 against Oakland, Cahill allowed six runs on eight hits in three innings of work during an 8-8 tie. After the game, manager Kirk Gibson said Cahill was ‘unable to execute’ and didn’t follow the game plan.

Tuesday, Cahill was touched up for five runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings of work in a 7-1 loss to Cleveland. To make matters worse, the 26-year-old had to leave the game with a knee injury in the fifth inning.

“Just a little hyperextended, I think,” Cahill told Burns and Gambo Tuesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “It felt like a really bad cramp, but it went away so I was glad it was nothing serious.”

The injury was suffered when Cahill covered first base on a ground ball to Paul Goldschmidt. The pitcher was a touch late off the mound and had to extend to beat Indians’ second baseman Jason Kipnis to the bag. He stayed down on the field for a few moments before walking off under his own power. He was replaced by reliever David Hernandez.

“First of all, if he would have covered the bag on time, we wouldn’t be talking about this right now,” manager Kirk Gibson joked with Burns and Gambo later on Tuesday. “He got kind of a late break over there. I think it just kind of surprised him, to be honest with you.

“He kind of took a funny step; he half-went for the bag and I don’t think he got the bag.”

Gibson said Cahill was nearing his pitch limit for the day and would have been taken out anyway. The manager also said that preliminary exams didn’t show any structural damage. Further exams will take place Wednesday.

“It was scary because I’ve had knee problems in the past,” Cahill said. “I’m just glad it went away.”

Cahill is scheduled to pitch the Diamondbacks’ second game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Australia March 22. He’s 6-0 with a 2.01 ERA in 10 career starts against the Dodgers.

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