Two injured Cards could change things
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Two injured Cards could change things
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
(JEFF ROBERSON / Associated Press)
ATLANTA — The Cardinals played and won Game 162 without two starting position players: Matt Holliday and Rafael Furcal. Their status for the National League division series appears to be rather undecided.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported both players would likely land on the disabled list with their respective injuries if it were not September. General manager John Mozeliak told the paper that both players are "day to day."
Furcal suffered a hamstring pull Monday and did not play in any subsequent games. Nick Punto replaced him.
Holliday aggravated a tendon strain in his right middle finger Tuesday. He also did not play Wednesday. The Post-Dispatch said Holliday was scheduled to see a hand specialist Thursday. He could receive a cortisone injection, and such treatments usually require a few days of inactivity.
Holliday batted .296 with a .912 OPS in 124 games. He had 22 home runs and 36 doubles in an All-Star season.
"We'd like to think that both of them could improve in the short term," Mozeliak told the Post-Dispatch. "But we don't want to push and make them unavailable should things go forward."
Certainly something to watch in the coming days.
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Comments (52)
Halliday - Lee - Hamels. Stop sweating the outcome, folks, it's all good...— CrotchetyOldMan- Here's what I can never understand: Why would any manager ever pitch to Pujols? Just walk the guy every at bat and Cardinals scoring will go down.— farley
- The cards played like heck to get here.. That's their WC! There's no gas left in the tank.., theyre done 4-2
Phils!!!— gosixers - Is it possible that the Cardinals' lofty hitting statistics is partly - or heavily - influenced by their playing 18 games against the Pirates, Astros, Cubs, and Reds this year? That's 72 of their 162 games against pitching staffs that are below standard. Not saying they aren't good hitters, but maybe not as good as their numbers suggest. Feedback?— knebman
- The only real concern in the NL is the Brewers. I'd rather the Dbacks play them, then the Braves. The Phils just swept the Braves at home simply because their lineup was finally together. Phils go to WS but it takes 7 against the BrewCrew.— greenflyer
- "400 dollars for lunch? Where is this guy?"— 76erfn
- The Cards will get to meet the real Phils this weekend. SWEEEEEEP!— Mr. Underhill
- My biggest worry is Lance Berkman. He is one of those Philly killers that comes up big just after you survive Albert Puhols. On paper, the Cards' pitching looks less than awesome and the Phillies new lineup has no real holes in it. It will be an interesting series and I think the Phillies, depite a poor record against the Cards in the regular season, will win, especially the way the pitching is lined up. The Cards used up their ace last night getting to the series.— gotedge
- Why didn't the Phillies do themselves a favor and lose last night?— realzeel
Comment removed.- GO FIGHTINS! A win against the Cards then....gulp.....the Brew-Crew. THAT will be the scarier game but hey! You play to win the game!! GO PHILLIES GO!— Panthro2011
- Phils will beat the cards. If not. then they don't deserve it. Go Phils!!!— nickNY
- The Phillies made short work of the Reds last year and the Reds were the best hitting team in the league. The Phils rotation this year is even better. You can put that in your roladex and twirl it!!!— knowner
- Maybe the Phillies rotation depth, and record when they start their regular line up could be the "Key"?
This Divisonal Series is theirs to lose, regardless of who's injured. The Phillies have the talent and the will power to finish this off and I believe they will. Everything they've done this season has been sensational.— knowner - The one thing that scares me is 3-6. Our season record vs these guys. Only team we lost season series.
And oh yea Reyus is a POS! Way to back into a batting title. Real ballplayers are turning over in their graves.— B.Woods - To be the best, you have to beat the best and the Cardinals are just a better team than the Braves were.— Johnnygunnz
- Oh stop with the alarmist headlines ...they could bring back Stan Musial in his prime and the Phillies are still better. Doesn't mean they can't lose but they are better— Gray Areas
- regular season wins mean squat now.... just hope the Phils bats show up, we know the pitching is there— peteike
- The Cardinals are hot at the moment, but that is why RAJ put together the pitching staff the Phillies have - to cool off hot teams. We've seen what happens when Halladay wants to win.— jlmfl
- Matt Holliday and Rafael Furcal are hardly scary.— Ron
- As a Cards fan coming into Philly for the games this coming weekend, a few things are clear:
1) The Phillies are the far better team
2) The Phillies have more playoff experience than the Cardinals
3) The Phillies rotation and starting lineup are light-years ahead of the Cardinals
With that said, the only thing the Cards have going for them is 'momentum' (whatever that means) and the fact that they have been playing for their playoff lives over the course of the past 4 weeks. Whether that translates into postseason success against (arguably) the best team in the league is yet to be seen, but I don't think they are strong enough to overpower the Phils.
Not a homer, just a realist. Phils in 4.— lansman - The managerial match-up is what concerns me. A high IQ versus a nimrod, dumber that a sack full of rocks.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- Which one is LaRussa? I say option B — madecaro
- The Cardinals have never had to face Halladay, Lee, Hamels and Oswalt in 4 straight games....Cards have only hit well against their weak division pitchers.....Phillies have GREAT pitching..and will shut down Cards hitting....Phillies in 4 games.— frank105
- Comment removed.
- Cards have a scary offense right now, and a few pitchers that give the Phils a lot of trouble. However, if the phils want to win the WS, they will have to play the best at some point. All the opponents from now on will be good, so bring them on and let the phils mow them down.— penncrow19
- You need to beat the best to be the best. No weaklings in MLB playoffs.
This is a legit team playing good baseball. For me, I think LaRussa overmanages and birngs in a lot of releivers - and we can attack the weaker bullpen. Pujols and berkman are fearsome for sure. We do have some hitters ourselves. If Howar gets hot, he can carry us on his back easy, and we get to see what Hunter really brings to the table.
Bring em on......— Owatagoofiam - The Cards also play in an incredibly weak NL Central where the pitching isn't very good. I'm not saying the NL East has better pitching (outside of the Phillies) than the Central, but playing against the likes of the Cubs, Astros and Pirates isn't exactly challenging from a batting perspective. Florida - the worst in teh NL East - had a better winning percentage than any of those 3 NL Central teams.
The Astros had a NL worst team ERA of 4.51, the cubs were third-worst at 4.33, and the Reds and Pirates also had ERAs above 4.00. Only the Mets in the NL East had an ERA above 4.00; the Marlins were 3.95.
So, looking at those stats, the Cardinals should have a better batting average due to facing inferior pitching, compared to what the Phillies had to face within their own division.— Watching and Waiting - Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- carp wont pitch until game 3. We have Doc, Lee, Hamels in the first 3 games. The Phils just swept a choking near-playoff team. I'm thinking 3-1. I hope they will run the table, but who knows.— palmyra21
- 4 aces are all proven playoff pitchers, every one of them. Anything can happen but there is no reason to believe Phils will lose this series.— tpizza
- Cardinals team batting average is .273, Phillies is .253. Cardinals team ERA is 3.74, Phillies is 3.02. Carpenter pitched last night, so will not be available until game 2 at the earliest. Pitching rules in October. Phils in 4.— vinnybravo
- Cards have the advantage at RF unless Manuel wakes up and starts Domonic Brown out there.— lonewolf1O
- You Phraud Phillies fans, you watch your team win 102 games and the 1st team they play you are scared, there is a reason you win 102, you are better.— jpenny
- You Phraud Phillies fans, you watch your team win 102 games and the 1st team they play you are scared, there is a reason you win 102, you are better.— jpenny
- no matter who you play, a 5 game series is scary. especially vs a good hitting team w solid pitching that we can't seem to figure out.
— MPatt24 - Phils win but Lance Berkman just kills us!!— elfman
- Even without those two guys the Cards are a very good team with good pitching. If we don't hit and score runs earlier it could be a long series. I like our chance with both Furcal and Holliday hurt but just remeber the Dodgers won a world title without there best hitter when Gibson hit that homer run so we can't take this team lightly if we do we will have played the whole season for nothing! Phillies in 4 then bring on who ever as we will continue to roll. GO PHILLIES— srcdaddy1216
- Furcal is an error machine. Having him out of the lineup will help the Cardinals.— hunglikeaton
- Everybody - take a deep breath and chill out. We're right where we all hoped and expected the Phils to be - in the WS hunt. First stop, NLDS vs. the Cards. Time for the players/coaches/team et al to GET THIS PARTY STARTED! Yo.— Dave Kane
- The Cardinals have two pitchers the Phillies can't hit. Series over.— Justaschmuck
- the cards' TEAM batting average is about 30 points higher than the phils (280 v 250). they have six starters hitting 295 or better. that scares me— doc35
- To me Furcal is the biggest loss. He's the sparkplug and was hitting pretty well lately.— EL Zorro
- interesting development!!!- we'll see what we see....— tblairhug57
- Holliday will be there Saturday; book it.— JBinPA
- Holliday as a hitter at level of Pence perhaps even slightly better. In short series his replacement could hit 400. Lets hope not.— Don w
- Comment removed.
- Outside of Pujols - who concerns you? The Phillies are stronger at every other position!!!— dankil13
- Phils' hitters vs. Cards starting pitching should be the biggest concern. — n62
- Comment removed.
- Both players will not play and will be non-factors in this series. It's the other Cardinal players who concern me.— Mark1npt
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About this blog
The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
Matt Gelb
Inquirer Staff Writer
Bob Brookover
Inquirer Baseball Columnist
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