Cubs' Alec Mills: Back issue forces trip to IL

The Cubs placed Mills on the 15-day injured list Sunday with a lower-back strain, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Mills picked up the injury just seven pitches into his start in Saturday's 3-1 win over the Red Sox. Mark Leiter stepped up in long relief and struck out five over 5.1 innings en route to capturing the win, so he could be the most logical candidate to enter the rotation as a replacement for Mills. The Cubs will likely hold Mills out through the All-Star break with the back injury, and he's not expected to return to the rotation once activated. Chicago should get at least one of its other injured starters (Marcus Stroman, Wade Miley and Drew Smyly) back before Mills is ready to go.