ST. LOUIS (AP) - Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright went on the disabled list with back tightness, and St. Louis put outfielder Dexter Fowler on the DL because of a strained left wrist.
Harrison Bader, the Cardinals third-round draft pick two years ago, was brought up from Triple-A and made his major league debut against Colorado on Tuesday night. With his mother and sister arriving during the game following a flight from New York to join his father in the stands, Bader doubled down the left-field line against lefty Jake McGee (0-1) leading off the ninth for his first hit.
Bader was batting .403 (29 for 72) with 10 homers against lefties at Triple-A Memphis this year. He slid across the plate to score the winning run on Jedd Gyorko’s short sacrifice fly, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals over the Colorado Rockies 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Wainwright, a 35-year-old right-hander, is 11-5 with a 4.89 ERA in 20 starts, leading the Cardinals in wins. He also went on the DL in 2008 for right middle finger sprain, 2011 for Tommy John surgery and 2015 for a torn right Achilles.
St. Louis made Wainwright’s DL move retroactive to Sunday, a day after he allowed two runs over 7 2/3 innings in a no-decision at the Chicago Cubs. Rookie Luke Weaver, who pitched in two games for the Cardinals this season, was scratched from his start for Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday and is expected to be recalled Wednesday.
“He went out and had his bullpen today,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “That was something that kind of showed its head at the end of his start in Chicago. So we knew that was kind of there. We thought we might be getting ahead and it’s tightening up on him.”
Matheny said he was hopeful that Wainwright would be able to return before the end of the Cardinals’ three-game series in Milwaukee on Aug. 1-3.
Bader, a 23-year-old from Bronxville, New York, was the 100th overall pick in the 2015 amateur draft and was hitting .297 with 19 home runs and 48 RBIs in 97 games for Memphis this season.
“We’ve been talking about Harrison a variety of times to come up,” Cardinals general manager Mike Girsch said. “It just felt like he’s been playing so well in Memphis, it was time to get him up here and give him a shot. We’re excited to have him.”
Bader became only the second player from Horace Mann School in New York to make it to the major leagues after Pedro Alvarez, a third baseman who played for Pittsburgh from 2010-15 and was selected an All-Star in 2013. Converted for first base, Alvarez spent last year with Baltimore and has been with the Orioles’ Triple-A team at Norfolk, Virginia, this season.
“I’m just very happy to be here,” Bader said. “Getting out with these guys and just having a good game, going out there and playing well.”
Bader is the sixth Cardinal to make his major league debut this season and got the call for the promotion over rookie outfielder Magneuris Sierra, who is hitting .365 (19 for 52) with 10 runs and a 400 on-base percentage in 13 games in the major leagues this season.
“Sierra’s been great, but Harrison’s been great all year in Memphis too,” Girsch said, “so we felt like it was time to give him a shot.”
Girsch wasn’t sure how long Fowler will be sidelined.
“It’s really his forearm,” Girsch said. “It’s no swing for a few days and then sort of regroup from there.”
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