Cardinals place Piscotty on DL with hamstring injury

ATLANTA (AP) The St. Louis Cardinals placed outfielder Stephen Piscotty on the 10-day disabled list with a right hamstring strain on Friday and received encouraging news about outfielder Dexter Fowler.

Piscotty was hurt while running to first base on a second-inning grounder in Thursday's 5-4 loss to Milwaukee. Fowler came out because of a strained right shoulder, leaving the team in need of outfield depth.

There were concerns on Thursday night Fowler might join Piscotty on the disabled list, but a MRI showed no structural damage.

''All that was pointing in a positive direction and once again wasn't what we were expecting,'' Matheny said.

Fowler joined the team in time for Friday night's game against Atlanta.

Matheny said Fowler might be able to be used as a pinch hitter.

''It didn't look very promising yesterday but as they got a chance this morning to have a more in-depth look at it, it looked like he could even be available to hit as early as tonight, possibly tomorrow,'' Matheny said. ''We'll just see how the rest of the day goes.''

Matheny said ''throwing is going to be a little bit of an issue'' for Fowler, who regularly starts in center field.

Tommy Pham, who was recalled from Triple-A Memphis, started in center field against the Braves. Jose Martinez is the fill-in starter in right field.

Pham appeared in 78 games with St. Louis last season and was hitting .283 with four homers and 19 RBI for Memphis.

''He was taking great at-bats all the way through, driving the ball and playing great defense,'' Matheny said of Pham. ''That was kind of what we expected to hear.''

Matheny made hot-hitting Kolten Wong the leadoff hitter, Fowler's usual spot in the order, for the first time this season.

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