St. Louis Cardinals Lose Matt Holliday to Elbow Contusion Vs. Cleveland Indians

The St. Louis Cardinals lost left fielder Matt Holliday to a left-elbow contusion in the second inning of their game against the Cleveland Indians on /4/13.

St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday suffered a left-elbow contusion during a game against the Cleveland Indians on /4/13. 

According to MLB.com’s August Fagerstrom, Holliday sustained the injury during the top of the first inning after Corey Kluber’s 94-mph sinker hit his elbow. Holliday left in the the second inning. 

Injury report on Matt Holliday is a left elbow contusion. Status is day-to-day.— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) /4/14, 2015

Fagerstrom says Holliday “appeared to be in immense pain, collapsing in a heap on the ground, but remained in the game to run the bases and took the field in the bottom of the inning.” 

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny and a trainer checked on Holliday as he lay on the ground, per ESPN. 

X-rays came back negative. Holliday is listed as day to day, per MLB.com. 

“He’s sore,” Matheny told Fagerstrom. “I got him in a bad spot. He had trouble getting the soreness out to where he could finish the swing.” 

Kluber then promptly retired 18 straight batters after his matchup at the plate against Holliday. He allowed a solitary hit in the seventh inning before being pulled out before the ninth inning, per ESPN. 

He threw a total of 113 pitches in Cleveland’s 2-0 win on Wednesday, per ESPN. 

Matt Holliday Injury: Updates on Cardinals Star’s Elbow and Return St. Louis Cardinals out http://t.co/Txid5yKhu2— Follow @YaBoiMOE73 (@Spoiledlyfemg) /4/14, 2015

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold says Kluber’s pitch is the third in the series “that has veered hard and in on a Cardinals hitter.” St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina had to get out of the way of a pitch the day before while Mark Reynolds wound up off his feet after a pitch went a bit too high. 

As for Holliday, Boogard says “he has been pegged by pitches before and clobbered on the bases by pivoting infielders, but rarely does he show that much pain publicly.” 

Things heated up during the course of the game after Holliday went down with the elbow injury. 

According to the ESPN update, Cardinals pitcher John Lackey hit Jason Kipnis with a pitch in his back in the top of the fourth inning. Plate umpire Mike Everitt warned both teams before ejecting Indians manager Terry Francona for arguing.

Matt Holliday day-to-day with elbow contusion after being hit by Kluber’s 94-mph fastball. http://t.co/7qAaBI1bdn pic.twitter.com/PLWLEx24M3— theScore (@theScore) /4/14, 2015

Reliever Randy Choate then hit Kipnis to load the bases two innings later. Kipnis got back at the Indians when he recorded a single in the eighth inning, per ESPN. 

Shortstop Pete Kozma took Holliday’s place in left field when he left. Kozma hasn’t played in the outfield since 2013, a stint that lasted all of four innings, per Fagerstrom. 

The MLB.com update mentions the only available outfielder, Jon Jay, has also been battling injuries. He currently has thumb and wrist issues. 

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch update hints the Cardinals will most possibly try to acquire an outfielder before the series finale in Cleveland on /4/14. 

The 35-year-old Holliday has amassed 1,874 hits, 274 home runs and 1,077 RBIs in 1,620 career regular-seaon games for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, per ESPN stats. 

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