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Thompson fills in as Cardinals open series with Reds

Aug 15, 2008 - 5:50 AM St. Louis (68-56) at Cincinnati (54-68), 7:10 pm EDT

CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Cardinals are no stranger to having their starting rotation battered by injuries. Somehow, though, they still stand on promising ground in the National League playoff chase.

Brad Thompson will take the mound as a replacement for the ailing Chris Carpenter as the Cardinals take on the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.

Carpenter is missing his scheduled start because of a muscle strain in his right shoulder, and an MRI on Tuesday confirmed the strain but showed no damage to his rotator cuff, according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The 33-year-old former Cy Young award-winner had elbow reconstruction surgery in July 2007 and re-injured the shoulder pitching against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, when he left the game with one out in the sixth after experiencing pain.

Thompson (4-2, 4.34 ERA) was inserted into the rotation to start the season and fared well in two starts during the beginning of April, going 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA over 10-plus innings.

Then after suffering from right elbow inflammation and missing nearly two months, he came back to throw five solid frames in a loss against the Kansas City Royals on June 19. He has 12 relief appearances - notching three wins - since.

Righthander Adam Wainwright, another starter on the shelf, will pitch for Class AA Springfield on Saturday while rehabbing a sprained finger. It will be the third rehab appearance for Wainwright, who was placed on the disabled list June 8.

The Cardinals are three games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (70-52) for second place in the NL Central Division and wild-card race. They are coming off a three-game series win over the Florida Marlins and were supported by slugger Ryan Ludwick, who belted a two-run homer and added an RBI double on Thursday in the rubber match.

Bronson Arroyo (10-9, 5.44) will take the mound for Cincinnati, which also took two of three games in its last series, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Reliever Francisco Cordero notched his 200th career save and rookie outfielder Chris Dickerson collected three extra-base hits to lead the Reds to a 3-1 win on Thursday.

Arroyo has held opponents to three runs or less in six of his last 10 starts and has won six of eight.