CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs righty Jameson Taillon was placed on the injured list on Friday with a right calf strain, the team announced before its game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s expected to miss “more than a month,” according to manager Craig Counsell.

Taillon, 33, injured his calf on his last wind sprint after a bullpen session on Thursday.

“He’s going to miss a pretty significant amount of time,” Counsell said.

Taillon was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 17 starts for the Cubs this season who just got lefty Shota Imanaga back from a hamstring injury. Now they’ll have to navigate at least the rest of this month without one of their other key starters.

“There’s a little room for us to be flexible right now,” Counsell said citing the upcoming All-Star break. “We’ll use that to our advantage and we’ll go from there.”

The team recalled left-hander Jordan Wicks to take Taillon’s spot on the roster, though he won’t go directly into the rotation. Instead, the Cubs will throw a bullpen game on Saturday against the Cardinals and “go from there,” according to Counsell.

Wicks, 25, went 1-3 with one save, a 4.06 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 12 appearances (11 starts) with Triple-A Iowa this season. In his past five starts dating to May 18, he posted a 1.65 ERA with 20 strikeouts, compared to just three walks, a 0.86 WHIP and a .186 opponent batting average.

The team might also consider a bigger role for righty Chris Flexen who has been fantastic for them out of the bullpen. Flexen, 31, has a 0.62 ERA in 16 games, including a four inning stint late last month.

“He’s a candidate to be stretched out for sure,” Counsell said. “He’s prepared to do a little bit more.”

Cubs brass have already stated they are looking for starting pitching before the trade deadline later this month. Counsell was asked if Taillon’s injury increases that need. He didn’t take the bait.

“The trade deadline isn’t until July 31,” he said. “I’m focused on the next week or 10 games before the All-Star break.”

CLEVELAND — Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas left during the sixth inning of Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers due to mild plantar fascia symptoms with his right foot.

Thomas missed 11 games in late May and early June because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He is batting .160 this season and .197 (13-for-66) since coming off the injured list on June 9. He does have four homers in his past 10 games.

“We think he’s good. The plantar fasciitis flared up a little bit again and I just didn’t like the way he looked running around the outfield. So rather than take a chance, I got him out of there,” manager Stephen Vogt said after the 2-1 loss to the Tigers.

Thomas also missed five weeks due to a right wrist bone bruise after getting hit by a pitch during the April 8 home opener against the Chicago White Sox.

ATLANTA — Jordan Westburg didn’t have to be fully recovered from a finger injury to move back into Baltimore’s lineup and make an immediate impact.

Westburg had three hits, including a homer, in the Orioles‘ 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

The Orioles received another boost as Tyler O’Neill came off the injured list with a single and a walk.

“I think they gave us two of the three runs,” said Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino, referring to O’Neill scoring on Cedric Mullins‘ two-run homer off Spencer Strider.

“Those are two really good players,” Mansolino said. “We’re still short. We’re still missing Adley [Rutschman], but a lot of credit to the guys. They went out there and put up three runs against probably one of the great pitchers in the game.”

Rutschman, Baltimore’s primary catcher, has been out since June 20 with an oblique strain.

Westburg has tried to play through his sprained left index finger. He left a game at the New York Yankees on June 21 before returning four days later against Texas and then having to leave a game after aggravating the injury on June 27.

“Is he 100%? Probably not,” Mansolino said before the game. “But I think he’s probably close.”

Close was good enough. When asked how he feels after his three-hit game, Westburg said, “Pretty good.”

“I’m willing to play through whatever I have,” Westburg said. “It just was at a point where I wasn’t able to swing a bat. As soon as I’m able and can, I want to be on the field as much as they’ll let me.”

O’Neill was the Orioles’ designated hitter in his return from a left shoulder impingement. He was placed on the injured list for the second time this year on May 16 after missing time earlier in the season with neck inflammation.

The contributions from Westburg and O’Neill, who combined to reach base five times, helped support Charlie Morton, who allowed six hits and two runs in 5⅓ innings in his return to Atlanta, where he pitched the past four seasons. Morton also began his career with the Braves.

Morton (5-7) improved to 5-0 in 10 appearances, including seven starts, since May 10.

“I spent basically half my career here,” Morton said. “Being drafted here, I spent seven years in the system, went to the big leagues, made my debut, got to play for Bobby Cox, got to play with some of the pillars of this organization and … come back and win a World Series here. Yeah, it’s a special place for me.”