RE:Kojak?
Nice write-up.....but I was looking at the under in this game as with all of the Cardinals Injuries?
There are walking wounded and just plain wounded on the Cardinals' roster, which played a couple of men short Saturday.
Center fielder Jim Edmonds was in the lineup despite being wrapped like a mummy before the game, having injured his back, ribs, shoulders and ankle in a collision with left fielder Reggie Sanders on Friday night.
But Sanders, who suffered a left rib contusion and sprained right ankle, was not in Saturday's lineup, nor will he be in Sunday's. And catcher Yadier Molina, who suffered a small non-displaced fracture in his left hand when hit by a pitch a week ago Thursday, belatedly will be placed on the disabled list Sunday.
With the ability to backdate the disablement 10 days, Molina would be able to play next weekend against the Chicago Cubs, but until then, manager Tony La Russa needs another able-bodied player, who will be utilityman Hector Luna, sent to Memphis 10 days ago.
Molina, his hand still swollen, gazed dejectedly at it, had an ice bag affixed to it and then went into La Russa's office before Saturday's game to tell him he still was having trouble. La Russa earlier had projected that Molina might be able to play Sunday.
But, offered Molina: "It's getting worse. I want to be there with my teammates. But it's still tender. I can't do anything."
Molina said that meant he couldn't catch or hit. "Pinch run?" he said, repeating a question. "Yeah, right."
Trainer Barry Weinberg said: "It's just going to need a little more time (for him) to become comfortable. When the swelling goes down, it exposes the point of injury a little bit more. And that's where he is right now."
La Russa, who, in effect, managed with 23 players Saturday, indicated a decision on Sanders might be delayed a couple of days, which dovetailed with Sanders' thinking. Sanders said the swelling had gone down in his ankle, but his rib-cage area was still sore.
"I hope it's not" disabling, he said. "It was worse yesterday. Today, it felt a lot better."
Weinberg said Sanders was a "little better" on Saturday.