Brewers' Gio Gonzalez Exits vs. Cubs with Shoulder Injury Diagnosed as Tightness

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez was forced to leave Friday night's game against the Chicago Cubs because of left shoulder tightness.

Adam McCalvy of MLB.com provided the update.

Gonzalez was pitching a gem before leaving in the seventh inning. He allowed two earned runs on three hits and one walk with nine strikeouts in 6.1 innings. It lowered his season ERA to 3.48 across eight starts.

The 33-year-old Florida native was making just his second outing since coming off the injured list with arm fatigue. He gave up three runs in four innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday, which marked his first MLB game since May 27.

Gonzalez spent the latter stages of the 2018 campaign with the Brewers, who acquired him in an August trade with the Washington Nationals. He signed with the New York Yankees as a free agent but rejoined Milwaukee after opting out of his deal with the Yanks following a month in the minor leagues.

The left-hander owned a 3.69 ERA and 1.31 WHIP with 1,775 strikeouts in 1,849 MLB innings entering Friday's start.

If Gonzalez is forced back on the IL, he'll become the fourth Brewers starter to get sidelined by an injury over the past month. Jimmy Nelson (elbow), Brandon Woodruff (oblique) and Jhoulys Chacin (lat) are all on the IL, with Woodruff and Chacin being placed on the list this week.

It could force Milwaukee, which is right in the thick of both the NL Central and NL Wild Card races, to become aggressive in its pursuit of pitching help ahead of the July 31 MLB trade deadline.