Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff left his start in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks two pitches into the fourth inning with what the team described a few innings later as abdominal discomfort.
Woodruff, a first-time All-Star this season who began the day 11-3 with a 3.53 ERA, struggled through the first three innings, throwing 76 pitches, 48 for strikes, as the Diamondbacks scored each inning to jump to a 4-0 lead.
Two of the runs came on a home run from catcher Alex Avila, his sixth home run of the season, in the second inning.
Woodruff started the fourth by getting a called strike on Tim Locastro. As Locastro fouled off the next pitch, Woodruff walked behind the mound in apparent discomfort, and after the trainer and manager Craig Counsell came out to check on him, he left the game.
Junior Guerra came on to get Locastro swinging on his first pitch, with Guerra credited for the strikeout, and he fanned the next two batters as well.
In three-plus innings, Woodruff gave up four runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. It was his shortest outing of the season. Woodruff had gone at least six innings in 11 of his last 12 starts.