Chris Archer leaves Saturday's start early with pectoral injury

The injuries keep mounting for the Minnesota Twins as starter Chris Archer left Saturday night's start against the Cleveland Guardians early with a right pectoral strain.

Archer started the second game of a three-game series and gave up a two-run homer to Ahmed Rosario in the first inning. Archer made through the second inning unscathed but was taken out of the game and replaced by Cole Sands in the top of the third.

Archer entered Saturday's game with a 2-7 record and 4.47 ERA this season. He previously landed on the injured list on July 2 with right hip tightness but has remained relatively healthy after signing a one-year deal last offseason.

The bigger problem is that Archer could join a long list of Twins pitchers on the shelf. Tyler Mahle is on his second stint on the injured list with a strained right shoulder while Bailey Ober (groin), Josh Winder (shoulder), Randy Dobnak (finger) and Kenta Maeda (elbow) are all rehabbing from their current ailments.

This is not ideal for a team that entered Saturday 2.5 games behind the Guardians for first place in the AL Central and could continue to sink the Twins as they enter the final weeks of the season.