Braves' Lane Thomas headed to IL after injury during pregame hitting

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ATLANTA (AP) — Braves outfielder Lane Thomas is headed to the 15-day injured list after hurting himself in the batting cage before the game Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Thomas was set to start the series finale against the Rays, but he sustained an intercostal injury in his right side while taking swings in the cage, according to manager Walt Weiss.

“Lane was obviously a late scratch, right before the game," Weiss said. “We had some chaos there.”

The 31-year-old Thomas was acquired from Kansas City ahead of the trade deadline to give the first-place Braves another right-handed batter. He is hitting just .171 with one homer and three RBIs in 21 games with his new team.

Brewer Hicklen started in place of Thomas and went 0-for-2 in Atlanta's 3-1 victory.

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