CLEVELAND -- The Royals' playoff chances may have taken a hit on Saturday as the team placed ace left-hander Danny Duffy on the 10-day disabled list because of left elbow impingement and valgus extension overload.
The injury, Royals manager Ned Yost said, is in the forearm area but does not affect tendons or ligaments.
Duffy left the team here in Cleveland early on Saturday and returned to Kansas City for an MRI exam to confirm the initial diagnosis.
"We're hoping it's just one start," Yost said. "It doesn't appear to be serious, but we're getting the MRI to be sure."
The late Yordano Ventura had a similar injury in 2014 and missed one start.
Left-hander Eric Skoglund (1-1, 5.59 ERA) will make the emergency start in place of Duffy on Sunday against the Indians. Skoglund last pitched on Aug. 15 for Triple-A Omaha and threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Royals selected the contract of left-hander Onelki Garcia from Omaha to take Duffy's place on the 25-man roster. To make room for Garcia on the 40-man, the Royals moved outfielder Bubba Starling to the 60-day disabled list with a right oblique strain.
Yost said Duffy first started feeling the impingement and valgus extension overload about five starts ago on July 31 in Baltimore. Duffy pitched a one-hitter through six innings last Tuesday against Colorado but came out after 88 pitches.

"If it was anything that was concerning, we would have shut him down right off the get-go," Yost said. "But it's been five starts. It's something that he can pitch through. It just got to the point where we needed to take a bit of a pause and see if one start gets him back. He was pretty functional. He's been functional. He just pitched one of the best games he's pitched in a couple of weeks in his last start [against Colorado]. It was cranky then, though."
Yost added, though, that Duffy, like many of his players, are insistent on playing through injuries this time of year with the Royals in the playoff hunt. Mike Moustakas (knee) and Salvador Perez (intercostal strain) are trying to play through injuries.
"Everyone in that locker room is dealing with something," Yost said. "But they all want to play and be there for their teammates."
The Royals signed Garcia to a Minor League contract last fall. Garcia was a Cuban refugee who made it to the United States and eventually was drafted in the third round by the Dodgers in 2012.
Garcia, 28, debuted in three relief outings for the Dodgers in 2013, but he had arm and elbow procedures the next year before being released. He pitched in the White Sox organization in '15, and in the Mexican leagues last season.
"It was a difficult couple of years, just because I didn't know if I was ever going to [get to the Majors again]," Garcia said through interpreter Pedro Grifol. "I did have faith, and I was going to work hard and have faith that this was going to happen."
Garcia split time between Omaha and Double-A Northwest Arkansas for the Royals and had a 7-3 mark with a 4.75 ERA.