Baseball

No word yet on the exact nature of the procedure, but surgery was always considered a strong possibility. Feel free to drop Garcia in redraft leagues if you haven't already. Tyler Lyons will fill Garcia's spot in the rotation for the time being, but the Cardinals are hoping to have Jake Westbrook (elbow) back from the disabled list soon. Chris Carpenter could be a possibility for the rotation down the road.

Carpenter was originally considered unlikely to pitch this season due to a lingering nerve condition in his shoulder and neck. However, he has been encouraged by his throwing program and has suddenly progressed from an option for the bullpen to the starting rotation. The 38-year-old has already stretched himself out to 80 pitches and could begin facing live hitters next week if all goes well. The Cardinals aren't counting on anything, but his unexpected return would provide a major boost for a club which will likely be missing Jaime Garcia (shoulder) for a while.

Descalso's slam followed an intentional walk to Jon Jay. Descalso entered the game with an ugly .197/.265/.289 line, and he probably wouldn't have been in the lineup if not for David Freese's thumb injury. The home run was his seventh in 813 major league at-bats.

Wainwright had a 5.77 ERA on this day a year ago before finally turning around his season with a shutout of the Padres on May 22. This year, he's been on target since day one; he ranks in the top 10 in the NL in wins, ERA, WHIP and strikeouts.

Westbrook had been slated to throw off the bump Tuesday, but he threw on flat ground again instead. The sinkerballer is expected to miss a couple more starts but is on track to rejoin the rotation in early June if he can avoid setbacks.

Freese still has some swelling around his right thumb where he needed three stitches for a small cut. He's considered day-to-day. Matt Carpenter is getting the start at third base, while Daniel Descalso is at second.

Westbrook threw for about 15 minutes on flat ground instead. The fact that he did throw indicates that it's probably not really a setback as much as the Cardinals just decided to wait a bit longer before having him throw from the bump. Westbrook is expected to miss at least a couple more starts.