DENVER -- Matt Holliday's long sprint toward the high flyball in shallow left field came to a painful end.
Holliday appeared to take a bad step before falling and hitting the ground hard, leading to an early exit for the Cardinals' slugger in a game that St. Louis lost 11-3 to the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.
"It's something with the (right) quad," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We don't know the extent right now. We'll get it looked at; figure out where we go from there."
The injury that befell Holliday in the second inning wasn't the only thing that went wrong for the Cardinals, who were quieted offensively by the effective pitching of David Hale (2-0).
The Rockies, meanwhile, roughed up John Lackey (4-4), who surrendered 10 runs and eight hits, including home runs by Troy Tulowitzki and Nolan Arenado.
"It was a bad night all the way around for sure," Lackey said. "Obviously, I didn't pitch well at all. It was a tough one. First inning, the home run to Tulowitzki, I hung a breaking ball to him. They found holes a few times, put guys on base, and when you do make a bad pitch, it just kind of makes it even worse."
Things went sideways for the Cardinals on the first batter, when second baseman Kolten Wong flubbed Charlie Blackmon's routine grounder. That paved the way for a five-run frame, which included Tulowitzki's homer along with RBI singles from Nick Hundley and Brandon Barnes.
Hale overcame a couple of mistakes by pitching seven solid innings. He left a changeup over the plate to Wong in the fourth for a home run and elevated a fastball that Jon Jay hit for a solo homer in the sixth. Jay entered the game as a replacement for Holliday.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn is dealing with some forearm tightness in the aftermath of Sunday's start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Manager Mike Matheny said team trainers are monitoring Lynn and noted that with Thursday's off day, the pitchers in the Cardinals' rotation will have an extra day of rest. "It's something we're going to watch," Matheny said. ... Holliday's strained quadriceps will be evaluated Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (8-1, 2.18) leads the majors in road wins with six.
Rockies: LHP Jorge De La Rosa (2-2, 6.15) was effective in his last outing despite a cut on his middle finger. With Colorado, he's 5-2 against St. Louis.
