Cardinals catcher Iván Herrera leaves game with left knee inflammation and is headed to IL

BOSTON (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrera was unable to put weight on his left leg and had to be helped off the field after running the bases Sunday during the first game of a day-night doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox.

The team announced he had inflammation in his left knee. In an interview on the ESPN broadcast during Game 2, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said initial testing was negative and Herrera’s knee was structurally sound. But he added the injury will require a stint on the injured list.

“Everything came back clean, which is good," Marmol said. "It could have been a lot worse.”

Herrera went from first to third on a third-inning single into the left-field corner by Nolan Arenado. When Luken Baker fouled to first to end the inning, Marmol and an athletic trainer helped Herrera to the dugout, where he got assistance down the steps to the clubhouse.

He was replaced in the bottom of the inning by Pedro Pages.

In the second, Herrera made a nice lunging catch for a force at the plate on Connor Wong's grounder to third, keeping a foot on the plate as he dove to his right.

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