Rangers starter Cal Quantrill leaves after throwing 12 pitches because of right lat tightness

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas Rangers starter Cal Quantrill left Saturday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays after facing just four batters because of right lat tightness.

Quantrill (9-5) exited after throwing his 12th pitch, with George Springer grounding out to shortstop to begin Toronto’s second inning. Quantrill, showing no signs of pain, was visited by manager Skip Schumaker, pitching coach Jordan Tiegs and head trainer Matt Lucero before leaving the mound.

The 31-year-old right-hander left his previous start after six innings and 70 pitches at Arizona last Sunday with back soreness.

Quantrill, son of former Blue Jays All-Star Paul Quantrill, has progressed from signing a minor league contract with Texas last January after recording a career-worst 6.04 ERA splitting time last season between Miami and Atlanta to becoming a Rangers starter in late June and being named the club’s player of the month for August.

Quantrill was trying to win four consecutive starts for the first time since he finished his 2021 season by winning his last four outings while with Cleveland.

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Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cal Quantrill (44) leaves the game with head athletic trainer Matt Lucero during the second inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cal Quantrill, left, talks to head athletic trainer Matt Lucero, center, and pitching coach Jordan Tiegs during the second inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cal Quantrill throws to the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cal Quantrill throws to the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ed Sheeran opened a solo concert in Philadelphia on Saturday with comments about Gaza, saying what’s happening is “catastrophic and unjustifiable.”

“My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives,” Sheeran said in the night at Lincoln Financial Field.

Sheeran also said he wants his music and shows to be about unity and humanity, not politics.

He then addressed the controversy that unfolded since his supporting acts withdrew in solidarity with opener Macklemore, who was dropped from the tour after making pro-Palestinian comments onstage.

Sheeran has performed much of his Loop Tour concerts solo, but he had been joined for several songs at each stop by the Irish folk band Beoga. Macklemore, Sheeran’s original U.S. opener, had been replaced by Danish band Lukas Graham and Irish singer Aaron Rowe before they backed out.

Finneas, Billie Eilish’s brother and musical collaborator, was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year before he too dropped out earlier this week.

As of Saturday afternoon, tickets were still available for the show, and Sheeran's website did not list any replacement acts.

Earlier a group of about 50 pro-Palestinian demonstrators congregated outside the stadium before the show. Hillary Steinberg, 34, of Philadelphia, said she got tickets a year ago but wound up getting a refund and attending the demonstration instead, disappointed that Sheeran did not take a stand.

“I was, until this week, a big Ed Sheeran fan,” Steinberg said. “I think all art is political, and all music is political, and so this choice — even though he was saying that he wasn’t complicit — is a political choice.”

The show comes after a tumultuous week that opened with Macklemore being dropped in response to exclaiming “Free Palestine” during a Sept. 5 show in New Jersey. Sheeran has said he was not responsible for the decision, which came at the urging of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. His company owns a stadium where Sheeran’s tour was scheduled to play on Friday.

Within hours of Sheeran's statement Tuesday, his supporting acts withdrew.

Diane Savitz, a 53-year-old concertgoer from Stroudsburg, got her tickets to the show months ago and is a big Sheeran fan. She said she does not think that he did anything wrong or that a concert is the place for politics.

“A concert should be for people enjoying the music. Music should bring people together,” Savitz said. “Everyone has their right to freedom of speech, but not every platform is the place for it.”

Macklemore said Wednesday he is donating $1 million to support Palestinian relief efforts and called on Kraft to match the gift; a spokesperson for Kraft has said the billionaire and Sheeran have each agreed to donate $2 million but have not specified where the money will be directed. Sheeran's representatives have not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Sheeran’s Loop Tour was the highest-grossing in the world, with an average box office gross of over $7 million per city, Pollstar said in May. Through the end of 2025, Sheeran was the No. 3 top-earning concert act since 2021.

Sheeran has said the tour promoter was ultimately responsible for the decision to drop Macklemore.

The Grammy winner was adamant in his Tuesday statement that he wouldn't be drawn into discussion of the war in Gaza, arguing that his fans don’t come to his shows to hear about these issues.

He also said he “spoke with the venues at length all week to try to build a bridge” before Macklemore was dropped. He insisted he would never willingly let down his fans or abandon the touring crew and others who rely on him to make a living.

While promoters and venues wield great power over concert tours, experts say an artist of Sheeran's magnitude generally has the final say about what happens concerning the shows.

Associated Press journalist Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed.

Recording artist Macklemore appears on ABC's "Good Morning America" Summer Concert Series in Central Park in New York on July 22, 2022, left, and Ed Sheeran appears at the premiere of the film "F1 The Movie" in London on June 23, 2025. (AP Photo)

FILE - Ed Sheeran attends the Time100 Gala, in New York on April 24, 2025. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)