Piscotty could be in Cards lineup in makeup game vs. Cubs
Without taking the field Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals still took a win.
Shortly after their game with the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium was postponed due to the threat of severe weather, the Cardinals revealed that right fielder Stephen Piscotty successfully made it through concussion tests after a scary incident in Tuesday night's 2-1 loss.
St. Louis hopes to have its right fielder back in the lineup when the series resumes Thursday.
Piscotty left the game after scoring the team's only run in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was a painful run as Javier Baez's wild throw drilled him in the left ear and left him lying behind the plate as a sellout crowd of 46,760 fell into library silence.
Piscotty eventually walked off the field under his own power, although manager Mike Matheny removed him from the game prior to the top of the sixth. However, Piscotty came through protocol without a hitch and told reporters he could have played if needed Wednesday.
"I definitely didn't black out, but I was stunned and didn't realize what happened," Piscotty said. "After a few seconds, I just kind of figured I got hit in the face or something. But thankfully, that helmet flap was there and took most of the force of it."
It capped a painful sequence in which Piscotty went one-on-one with the ball three times and lost. He reached base when Jake Arrieta's 3-1 pitch smoked him in the right elbow, then moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. The throw to second by catcher Willson Contreras plunked Piscotty in the left elbow.
Then came the final play of Piscotty's first game since signing a six-year, $33.5 million contract extension Monday. Piscotty left to an ovation that included several Chicago players.
"That was just awful, man," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of the injury to Piscotty. "Hopefully, he's going to be fine."
Piscotty was not in Wednesday's lineup. Matheny opted to start Matt Adams in left field prior to the postponement. Matheny didn't say if the lineup would change with the day off, but hinted that he might lean toward leaving it intact.
Both starting pitchers are still good to go for Thursday's makeup game. Chicago will send John Lackey (11-8, 3.55 ERA) to the mound against St. Louis' Lance Lynn, who will make his first big-league start since the end of the 2015 season. Lynn missed last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November 2015.
The only real impact Wednesday's postponement has is on the Cubs' travel plans. They intended to leave St. Louis after the series finale and spend Thursday in Chicago before busing to Milwaukee for their series opener in Miller Park on Friday night. Now they will spend a fifth night in St. Louis before flying to Wisconsin after Thursday's game.
Maddon made a couple of changes to his lineup as well, inserting Miguel Montero behind the plate and giving former Cardinal Jon Jay a start in center field. It was to be Jay's first start against his old team in St. Louis since he was traded in December 2015 to San Diego. Jay was on the disabled list during the Padres' visit to St. Louis last year.