Injuries Aside, Cardinals Put Hurt On M’S
Mariners baseball
On the last day of spring training, St. Louis Cardinals manager Joe Torre had his fingers crossed that nothing else would go wrong. Mission accomplished.
On Monday, the Cardinals placed first baseman and cleanup hitter Todd Zeile on the 15-day disabled list with an inflamed tendon in his left hand, and second baseman Geronimo Pena injured his hamstring on a ground-rule double, of all things, to lead off the first inning.
In Tuesday’s 7-4 exhibition victory over Seattle, the rest of the Cardinals emerged unscathed for tonight’s opener against Philadelphia. But the one thing he didn’t want them to do was play it safe.
He even allowed utility player Jose Oquendo to pitch and get the last out, meaning Oquendo has played all nine positions this spring.
“It’s like my last day of skiing,” Torre said. “I’m always afraid to go up on the slopes because I haven’t gotten hurt up to now. You don’t ski with the same vigor, at least I don’t, and it’s the wrong thing to do.
“That’s when you wind up getting hurt, when you’re trying not to get hurt.”
Scott Cooper, who replaced Zeile at cleanup, hit a two-run home run - his first of the spring - and added an RBI single off Seattle starter Bob Wells in his next at-bat. Ray Lankford drove in his second and third runs of the spring with a double in the first and an infield single in the second.
Brian Jordan was 3 for 3 with two infield hits and rookie John Mabry, recalled because of Zeile’s injury, was 3 for 4 and scored twice.
Cooper, acquired in a spring training trade from the Red Sox, said he wasn’t worried about the Cardinals’ offense.
“In Boston, we waited for the big inning,” Cooper said. “You go with the hand you’re dealt and play it the best you can. We’re just going to have to manufacture some runs.”
Pena’s hamstring injury was not believed to be serious.
“It tightened up, which is usually a warning sign,” Torre said. “We’ll see how it is day-to-day.”
Cardinals starter Tom Urbani (1-0) pitched five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out three. Wells (0-1) lasted only 1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. Pirkl and Jay Buhner had two hits apiece but Ken Griffey Jr. completed a frustrating two games in St. Louis going 0 for 3 with a strikeout and pop-up.
Griffey was 0 for 6 with three strikeouts in the two games and struck out 11 times in 30 spring atbats overall.
Greg Pirkl drove in all four runs for the Mariners (5-8), with a two-run double in the sixth and a tworun single in the eighth. He was 3 for 4, finishing the spring at .444.