Grichuk exits game with groin injury, but Cardinals don’t believe it’s serious

Despite their major league-best 63-35 record, the St. Louis Cardinals have been forced to deal with injuries throughout the season.

Matt Holliday, Adam Wainwright, Matt Adams, Jon Jay, Matt Belisle, Jaime Garcia and Jordan Walden are either on the disabled list or have been previously.

The Cardinals had more reason for concern Sunday in a 3-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves when center fielder Randal Grichuk and second baseman Kolten Wong both were shaken up. Fortunately for the Cardinals, neither injury is considered to be serious.

Grichuk left the game in the top of the seventh with groin discomfort. Trainer Greg Hauck told a club spokesman that Grichuk suffered the injury running the bases.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said removing Grichuk from the game was “precautionary more than anything else.”

Matheny was unaware of the injury until the Cardinals, minus Grichuk, took the field in the seventh.

“It came to me, actually, after we had already made our pitching change,” said Matheny, who relieved Michael Wacha with Sam Tuivailala to open the seventh. “So I had no idea; I didn’t see anything. The next thing you know, we’re taking the field and I find out, and we’ve got to kind of scramble to get guys ready. We had no clue.

“It was probably one of those things he could have played through, but we’re not going to do it. If we catch something early, it could save him significant time from pushing through it. We’re going to get the doctors to take a look at him and then evaluate and see where we are.”

Grichuk, who was unavailable to comment on the injury, is batting .281 with 17 doubles, six triples, 11 home runs and 36 RBIs in 68 games. His slugging percentage of .558 leads the Cardinals and ranks first among all major-league rookies.

Wong, meanwhile, had the air knocked out of him on a tumbling slide into second base in the fifth when he stretched a single into a double. Hauck and Matheny checked on Wong, who needed a few moments to collect himself before remaining in the game.

Wacha felt fine physically, but was in anguish mentally after pitching creditably in a loss that dropped his record to 11-4.

Ryan Lavarnway had an RBI double past third and Cameron Maybin had a run-scoring single to left-center, both in the second inning, to give Atlanta a 2-0 lead.

Stephen Piscotty’s RBI single to left in the fourth and Holliday’s RBI double to right in the fifth made it 2-2, but Wacha allowed rookie Adonis Garcia’s 386-foot home run to right on a 1-0 cutter in the sixth that put the Braves ahead for good. It was Garcia’s first big-league homer.

“It was over the middle of the plate,” said Wacha, who walked three and struck out five. “It was unfortunate that one got out. I’ve got to get that ball down in those hitter’s counts.”

Garcia’s drive looked fairly harmless, but it carried, which surprised Matheny.

“One fly ball to right field that carried uncharacteristically far in this park, and that was what really cost him,” Matheny said. “We just couldn’t get enough going offensively to make up for it.”

Wacha wasn’t as surprised as his manager by the home run.

“I knew he got it good,” Wacha said. “The ball was up in the zone and he put a good swing on it. He didn’t miss it. He drove it that way and it ended up getting out. J-Hey (Jason Heyward) made a heck of an effort to rob it, but unfortunately, it got out.”

The homer made a winner of rookie Matt Wisler (5-1), who allowed two runs (earned) on seven hits in seven innings. Arodys Vizcaino worked a scoreless eighth and Jim Johnson, closing for the injured Jason Grilli, pitched around a two-out single to Wong and posted his ninth save.

The Cardinals open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds at 7:15 p.m. Monday and will continue to explore trade options as the nonwaiver deadline approaches Friday.

“I don’t think we rule out anything at this point,” Matheny said. “We’re going to keep our eyes and ears open. But also, we look around that clubhouse and we like what we see. We like the way these guys compete and we like how different guys are jumping in and contributing.

“We believe in what we have, (but) we’re never going to rule out the opportunity (to make changes). There’s a lot of things that have to happen in order for that to work. We trust what we have, but in the business of baseball, we know there’s always potential something could happen.”

Matheny said the Cardinals already have been aggressive, adding reliever Steve Cishek from the Miami Marlins in a trade Friday. Cishek pitched a scoreless eighth Sunday in his first game.

“It felt good to get out there and get the first one out of the way,” Cishek said. “It felt pretty comfortable. I think I was more nervous (Saturday), being here for the first time. I was ready to go, no matter what. But (Saturday), I was as excited as I could be.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2015 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Grichuk exits game with groin injury, but Cardinals don’t believe it’s serious."