St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen, bothered by a sore neck after a headfirst slide earlier this month, will get at least three more days off to rest the injury.
Rolen missed his third straight start and fifth game this week Saturday night against the Kansas City Royals.
Rolen was injured June 12 in Boston, and has played sporadically since due to a stiff neck and soreness in his back and shoulders that hinders his mobility. He’ll also miss Sunday’s series finale against the Royals, and the Cardinals have a day off Monday before beginning a three-game series against Cincinnati.
Giants place Snow on DL
The San Francisco Giants placed first baseman J.T. Snow on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin.
The move is retroactive to Wednesday, making Snow eligible to be activated July 3. To fill Snow’s roster spot, the Giants recalled outfielder Carlos Valderrama from Triple-A Fresno to fill a hole in the outfield since reserve Marvin Benard is injured. Valderrama started in center field Saturday.
“The thing is, he’s staying the same — no worse, no better,” manager Felipe Alou said of Snow. “They figure that could lead to a lengthy DL if he plays like that.”
Astros’ Kent a late scratch
Houston second baseman Jeff Kent was scratched from the starting lineup just before the start of Saturday night’s game at Texas because of his sore left wrist.
It was the third straight game Kent missed.
The Astros shuffled their lineup just minutes before the game started, with Jose Vizcaino taking over at second base. Left fielder Lance Berkman moved from fifth to fourth in the batting order.
Kent is the Astros’ RBI leader (50) in his first year with the team. Kent is hitting .313 with 11 home runs.
SATURDAY’S NL GAME
RESULT, SYNOPSIS
Cincinnati 3 at Arizona 5
W: Patterson (1-3)
L: Anderson (1-4)
S: Valverde (6)
Chad Moeller hit a tie-breaking, 2-run homer in 7th. Diamondbacks climbed above .500 for 1st time all season. Their 4-game winning streak is longest since ending last season with 4 straight wins.
