(Photo credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports)
The St. Louis Cardinals will have to adjust to life without their veteran leader behind the plate when they face the Minnesota Twins in the deciding game of a three-game series in Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon.
Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras broke a finger on his right hand when he was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning of a 6-0 loss Saturday, the team said. Contreras will be placed on the injured list.
“We suffered a setback today,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said after the game. “He broke the middle finger of his right hand and will be out. I don’t have a timetable, but he will go on the injured list. …
“It’s been a tough year. He’s been beaten up pretty badly. He’s fought through a lot.”
Contreras, 32, is in his second season with the Cardinals. He has a .262 batting average with 15 home runs and 36 RBIs in 84 games.
The Twins will try to avoid injuries as they look to win the weekend series, having won the opening game on Friday 6-1.
Twins rookie right-hander Zebby Matthews (1-1, 3.60 ERA) is making his third career start. He won his major league debut on Aug. 13 against the Kansas City Royals, allowing two runs and five hits in five innings, but suffered a loss in his second outing against the San Diego Padres on Monday.
Matthews allowed five runs (two earned) and four hits in five innings in this game. He has never pitched against the Cardinals.
In five innings against San Diego, Matthews allowed five runs (two earned) on four hits, two walks and one strikeout in a 5-3 loss.
The Cardinals will counter on Sunday with right-hander Erick Fedde (8-7, 3.39 ERA), who is scheduled to make his 26th start of the season and his fifth since joining St. Louis from the Chicago White Sox.
Fedde is 1-3 with a 4.98 ERA in his first four starts with the Cardinals. He is looking to rebound from consecutive losses, including his last appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers, when he allowed two runs on six hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings of Tuesday’s 3-2 game.
In two career starts against the Twins, both of which came this season as a member of the White Sox, Fedde is 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA. He has allowed one run on seven hits in 11 innings.
Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach will look to stay sharp at the plate after hitting two home runs and four RBIs in Saturday’s 6-0 win. The performance was Larnach’s first career multi-home run game.
“He swings the bat well,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He hit the balls really well (on Saturday). All runs are important, but to break through with the big swing and score some runs early in the game is a big deal for us. Those are sometimes the biggest swings of the entire game.”
“He’s been swinging well all year. He’s gone through periods where I don’t think he’s had too much luck with the way he’s swung the club. He’s been pretty consistent in his approach. He knows what he’s trying to do. And he’s a big, strong guy.
“If he swings the ball well, it will fly out of the stadium. He can do that.”
The Cardinals are expected to promote catcher Ivan Herrera from Triple-A Memphis to fill the void left by Contreras’ injury. Herrera, 24, has a .279 batting average with three home runs and 19 RBIs in 54 major league games this season.
–Field level media
