Holliday, Berkman Both Hurt

Added on May 19, 2011 by Scott in

MLB

The St. Louis Cardinals will have to scramble to fill out their lineup today, and perhaps a little longer, after scratching starting outfielders Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman, both of whom suffered injuries in Wednesday’s night win against Houston. Neither is expected to miss significant time, but it’s possible they could be sidelined more than one game.

Holliday exited after two innings with tightness in his left quadriceps. He leads the National League in hitting with a .357 average and has belted five homers and driven in 28 runs. Holliday, a four-time All-Star, underwent an emergency appendectomy on April 1st. It was thought he would be out for at least a month, but he returned nine days later.

Berkman was lifted in the sixth inning after jamming his left wrist while making a diving grab. X-rays were negative, but he’ll receive further evaluation today. The 35-year-old right fielder is enjoying one of his finest seasons to date. He’s second behind Holliday in NL batting at .349, leads the league in RBI with 35 and is tied for second in home runs with 11. He doesn’t believe the injury to be too severe.

“I don’t think it’s too, too bad,” Berkman told reporters. “I think it’s more than just … it’s sore. As a hitter, your wrist or hand — the rest of you can feel great, but if your pinkie’s bothering you (and) it’s hard to swing, then that’s a problem.”

Allen Craig will sub for Holliday in left field, while John Jay takes over for Berkman in right. In 22 games, Craig is hitting .255 with one homer and 11 RBI. Jay has played in 43 games thus far and is batting .322 with 3 round-trippers in only 59 plate appearances.

The Cardinals lead the Majors in team batting at .286 and RBI with 642. They are 25-19, .5 game behind the division-leading Reds in the NL Central. After today’s game versus the Astros, they will embark on a ten-day road swing, beginning Friday in Kansas City for a three-game weekend series with the Royals.

Source: ESPN.com