Chavez leaves game with strained oblique

ARLINGTON -- Third baseman Eric Chavez underwent an MRI after leaving Thursday's game against the Rangers with a strained right oblique and could be placed on the disabled list soon.

Chavez swung and missed at the first two pitches he saw from Rangers right-hander Justin Grimm in the first inning, then took his helmet off and walking into the dugout after the second whiff. Cliff Pennington replaced Chavez with the count at 0-2, working it full and grounding out to shortstop to end the inning.

"Not a very good way to start out, very first inning and he goes down," manager Kirk Gibson said. "He did something on the first swing and said he was OK, but on the second swing, there was something going on there."

Pennington remained in the game, at second base, and went 2-for-5 with a run, while Martin Prado moved from second to third. Prado was making his 30th start of the year at second before moving to third, where he has played 21 games this year.

Pennington last played on Monday, when he went 2-for-4 and delivered a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning of the second game of a doubleheader. He was batting .203 with one home run and 10 RBIs in 41 games before entering the game. Chavez is batting a team-best .325 with seven home runs and 25 RBIs in 37 games. He's hit .394 with three homers and 17 RBIs in his last 20 games.