American Marconi Wireless News - Injuries bench pitchers Darvish and Musgrove for MLB Padres

Darvish, a 37-year-old from Osaka in his 12th MLB campaign, has a left groin strain while Musgrove, 31, is out with a swollen right elbow.

The Padres, off to a 31-29 start, are second in the National League West division, 5.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Darvish departed his prior start against Miami on Wednesday after three innings with a tight left hamstring.

"The feedback is that it's better," Padres manager Mike Shildt said of Darvish's injury. "But we know those (groin and hamstring) areas can be tricky. We want to make sure we get it behind him."

Darvish is 4-3 with a 3.20 earned-run average over 56 1/3 innings this season while Musgrove, whose elbow issues began in a practice workout session, had a 5.66 ERA over 49 1/3 innings.

"We've had challenges already this year," Shildt said. "Challenges are what ultimately define you."

The Padres called up pitchers from their developmental club and will likely add another to pitch in Darvish's next scheduled start on Tuesday at the Los Angeles Angels.

S.Gregor--AMWN