Diaz, Kluber added to All-Star teams as injury replacements

St. Louis Cardinals’ infielder Matt Carpenter exited Wednesday evening’s matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a right oblique injury. “I’ve seen it. It can be tough”, Matheny said after Wednesday’s game against Pittsburgh.

McKenry, 31, was signed by the Cardinals as a minor league free agent on May 27 after beginning the 2016 season with the Texas Rangers Triple-A Round Rock club. To replace Carpenter on the roster, National League manager Terry Collins has turned to Carpenter’s teammate, Cardinals rookie shortstop Aledmys Diaz. But day to day we’re here for winning, so I just focus on the everyday game.

Carpenter, who was recently named to his third All-Star Game, is hitting.298 with 14 home runs and a team-high 53 RBIs. Carpenter left the game with an apparent injury. Leaving the game midway through his third inning at bat, Carpenter appeared to injure himself on a check swing against Pirates’ starter Jeff Locke. Opportunity. Have a Carpenter go down? His.988 OPS leads the National League. Diaz is batting.319 with 12 home runs, 44 RBI, 22 doubles, 54 runs scored, a.382 on-base percentage and a.534 slugging percentage. The severity of the injury and the exact amount of time he’ll be unavailable remains to be determined, but Matheny called the 15-day DL stay a minimum. McKenry had a game-winning homer against Nashville on Tuesday night and has played for Colorado and Pittsburgh.

National League All-Star manager Terry Collins of the New York Mets chose to add Diaz in Carpenter’s place.

Diaz, who had kept his All-Star break plans fluid, was ushered into Matheny’s office Thursday morning to get the news he made the team.