By B.J. RAINS
FOXSportsMidwest.com
March 1, 2011
JUPITER, Fla. � Already without ace Adam Wainwright for the season, the St. Louis Cardinals saw Opening Day starter Chris Carpenter and key setup man Michell Boggs both leave a game injured Tuesday.
Carpenter left in the bottom of the third inning of the Cardinals' eventual 7-1 spring training win over the Marlins with a left hamstring strain. Boggs replaced him and left an inning later with a strained lower back.
The 2005 Cy Young Award winner Carpenter retired eight of the first nine batters he faced before walking leadoff man Chris Coghlan with two outs in the third inning. Catcher Yadier Molina motioned to the bench and head trainer Greg Hauck hurried out to the mound.
After a brief chat, Carpenter slowly walked off the mound. He waited for the inning to finish before leaving the dugout and heading for the clubhouse.
"I threw a pitch and felt a little twinge in my hamstring," Carpenter said. "I tried to throw one more and it didn't feel too good so I came out. They don't think it's very bad so I'm not concerned with it�.We'll wait and see tomorrow. I'm sure they will know more but what they say it doesn't seem like it's very bad.
"I couldn't throw. The next pitch I could barely put my foot on the ground. I'm not going to blow it out totally just to get through one more out of the first spring training game."
Carpenter was his usual stellar self before the injury, allowing one hit in 2 2/3 innings. He threw 32 pitches, 18 of which were strikes, and had one strikeout.
With Wainwright already gone for the season, relieved may be an understatement for how the Cardinals felt upon hearing the injury doesn't appear to be serious.
"I have never done this before so I have no idea," Carpenter said. "I'm sure these guys can give me more info tomorrow but as of right now when they evaluated me they weren't too concerned with it."
The hard-throwing Boggs is expected to be a key piece of the Cardinals bullpen this year, especially if reliever Kyle McClellan moves to the rotation to fill the open spot created by Adam Wainwright.
Boggs got the final out of the third inning and the first two outs in the fourth before feeling his back tighen following a pitch.
"I threw the pitch and my lower back just kind of locked up a little bit," Boggs said. "I don't think it would have been wise to keep going so right now I'm dealing with a little discomfort but I don't think its anything too serious. I've been dealing with a little bit of lower back tightness and I threw that one pitch and felt it a little bit more than I would have liked to.
"I don't see any reason why it should be too serious at all. It's spring training. I've felt really good and was throwing the ball great. It's just one of those things that happens and I'd rather it happen now, early on in camp, and deal with it and get it situated and be ready to go."
The 35-year-old Carpenter went 16-9 with a 3.22 ERA last season. He missed almost all of the 2007 and 2008 seasons with injuries. It's not yet known how long Carpenter will be out.
Boggs had a 3.61 ERA in 61 games out of the Cardinals bullpen last year, his first full-year as a reliever.
Pitching coach Dave Duncan said it was early enough in camp that Carpenter's Opening Day start on March 31 against the San Diego Padres wouldn't be in doubt. Duncan expected the right-hander to likely miss one start due to the hamstring strain, leaving him plenty of time to get enough work in before the season starts.
Boggs said he wouldn't throw Wednesday but hoped to only miss a couple of days.
