Cardinals’ Kolten Wong returns, Matt Holliday almost back
The St. Louis Cardinals are getting healthier.
Second baseman Kolten Wong came off the bench in the sixth inning of Thursday’s 4–1 win over the Pirates in Pittsburgh, hitting a single in his first at-bat since sustaining a concussion on Tuesday. He was hit by a pitch in his second at-bat during the ninth.
Wong was cleared by doctors Thursday afternoon after sustaining a concussion while making a diving catch during the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs. The 24-year-old second baseman sat out the nightcap and also missed Wednesday’s game.
“Yesterday and, actually, the night after the game, it all went away,” Wong said of his symptoms before Thursday’s game, according to MLB.com. “I kind of knew it wasn’t really that bad. It’s just one of those things. I felt like I got punched in the face.”
Entering Thursday, Wong was batting .284 with nine home runs, 37 RBIs and a .786 OPS over 83 games.
• Mets rookie P Steven Matz out three weeks with partially torn lat muscle
Holliday could be activated from the disabled list as early as Friday, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. The Cardinals leftfielder went on the 15-day DL on June 8 with a strained right quadriceps, but Matheny said he had been working on agility drills recently and ran again on Thursday.
Over 52 games, Holliday is batting .303 with three home runs, 26 RBIs and an .839 OPS. He was voted in to the All-Star Game as a starter for the National League, joining the Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper and the Miami Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton. It is his seventh All-Star selection.
Thursday’s win over the Pirates moved the Cardinals to 56–30, 5 1/2 games up on Pittsburgh in the NL Central.
- Mike Fiammetta
