Football
Associated Press 18y

Carpenter believes he won't miss start

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter
said Saturday that his bruised right thumb was much improved since
he was injured the previous night, and believes he'll be able to
make his next start.

In fact, Carpenter said he thought he could pitch Saturday.

"That's how good it feels," Carpenter said. "It's still
swollen and it's definitely got a bruise, but I can squeeze and
move it and do all of my normal stuff. So I'm excited about it."

Carpenter, the NL Cy Young winner last year and 10-6 with a 3.06
ERA this season, said he intended to go through his normal routine
between starts. His next scheduled start is Wednesday at
Cincinnati.

"Last night," he said, "I couldn't even move it."

Manager Tony La Russa was more cautious, although noting that
Carpenter was "much improved."

"We'll see what that turns out to be," the manager said.
"Let's leave it at that."

Carpenter was hurt trying to block a grounder up the middle by
the Brewers' Bill Hall in the sixth inning of a 4-3 loss to the
Brewers on Friday night. Turning to his side he was too quick and
missed with his glove hand and instead took the impact off his
right thumb.

X-rays taken during the game indicated no break. Trainer Barry
Weinberg said Saturday the swelling and soreness were down and that
Carpenter had good strength in his grip.

Carpenter pitched to one more hitter after being hurt, striking
out Geoff Jenkins with breaking balls. He was removed for a pinch
hitter after the Cardinals, trailing 4-3, loaded the bases in the
sixth, and said he probably could not have continued pitching in
any case.

"With the way I felt about it last night, I wasn't excited
about what the next few days were going to bring," Carpenter said.
"When I woke up this morning I was very pleasantly surprised with
the way that it felt."

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