ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals outfielder Reggie Sanders might miss
a month or more because of a broken bone in his right leg.
Sanders was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday, three
days after he collided with center fielder Jim Edmonds as they
chased a flyball. Tests Sunday showed that the 37-year-old left
fielder has a hairline fracture of his right fibula that team
doctors estimate could keep him out four to six weeks.
"I feel like I played football for a couple of days," Sanders
said. "You look at all the dynamics and it's not what I wanted,
but here it is."
Sanders was second on the Cardinals with 18 home runs, third
with 44 RBI and first with 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts. He had
been chasing his first career 30-30 season.
It is just the latest injury for the Cardinals, who are
fortunate to have a double-digit lead in the NL Central.
"There's never a decent cushion," manager Tony La Russa said.
"You have one bad week, nobody's talking about a cushion."
Catcher Yadier Molina already is on the DL, and third baseman
Scott Rolen underwent strength tests Monday on his surgically
repaired left shoulder. Rolen has played well defensively since
returning in mid-June, but had been in a 1-for-26 slump before an
RBI double off Roger Clemens in a 3-0 victory over Houston on
Sunday.
"I think they kind of just wanted to make sure," Rolen said.
"Obviously I've struggled and had some pain, missed an All-Star
game. I understand I had surgery and there's going to be a little
grace period, but I had anticipated I would be full strength or
getting close to full strength."
Rolen was out of the lineup Monday because of pain and soreness
associated with an arthrogram, in which dye was injected into the
affected area. After the Cardinals' 11-4 victory over the Brewers
on Monday, he said team doctors told him results of an MRI were
"fairly clear" and plans on returning to the lineup on Tuesday.
"They said the MRI looked pretty good," Rolen said. "That's
good in one sense but in the other sense something's wrong, so it
doesn't give you much closure."
Dr. George Paletta, the team physician, said the MRI showed some
tendinitis but that otherwise the location of the surgery "looks
great and nothing else looks structurally to be a problem."
"At this point there's no point in putting him on the DL,"
Paletta said. "The news today was about as good as it could have
been."
Molina hasn't played since breaking his left hand when hit by a
pitch on July 7, and was placed on the disabled list retroactively
Sunday.
Sanders didn't play after the collision with Edmonds in the
first inning on Friday night, the first game for the Cardinals
after the All-Star break. The injury occurred near where a plate
and several screws were inserted in his ankle after an injury in
1989.
"Where the bone and plate meets is where his knee ran into
me," Sanders said. "That was like the most fragile area. It's
just freaky how it all happened."
Edmonds said he was shocked by the contact, and hadn't
anticipated Sanders taking that angle at the ball. He said it was
the first significant outfield collision of his career. Sanders
caught the ball but never called for it, also puzzling Edmonds.
"I was starting to think about diving for it when he ran into
me," Edmonds said.
St. Louis purchased the contract of left-handed hitting
outfielder John Rodriguez from Triple-A Memphis. Rodriguez, 27, was
batting .342 with 17 homers and 47 RBI in 34 games at Memphis
after being acquired from Cleveland in June.
The run, featuring four grand slams, was deemed worthy of
immediate playing time. La Russa had Rodriguez batting second
Monday night and he went 1-for-5 with an infield hit plus a nice
running catch of Brady Clark's drive to the warning track with
runners on second and third to end the second.
"He doesn't make that play, who knows how the inning goes," La
Russa said.