With injury in Game 3, St. Louis Cardinals’ Carlos Beltran is now day-to-day - NLCS News
St. Louis Cardinals' manager Mike Matheny indicated on Wednesday, October 17, that right fielder Carlos Beltran will be day-to-day after he ended up injuring his knee in the Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.
The Cardinals won Wednesday’s toughly fought encounter, beating the San Francisco Giants by 3-1 and securing a much-needed 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven-game series. However, Beltran’s getting injured may upset the balance for the Cardinals.
Manager Mike Matheny also said it was a problem that Beltran had encountered in the past as well. "We'll know more [on Thursday], for sure. But it's a left knee -- he had some issues on and off all season. On and off his whole career,” said Matheny whose team now has 2-1 lead.
Wednesday saw what the Cardinals were probably not anticipating. Soon after Beltran left, being one of the experienced players out there adding to the team’s offence, his replacement had to be someone well capable of dealing with the challenge.
Cardinals saw a good replacement in Matt Carpenter whose two-run homer at the crucial time delivered the Cardinals offensively, backed up by an equally strong defence which was witnessed in the form of solid bullpen.
Being a worthy replacement, Matt Carpenter even stunned Beltran himself.
"It's crazy," said Beltran. "You don't expect things like that to happen, especially as sudden as it was, and, really, without any [warning] -- nobody knew. Next thing you know, he's out of the game. You just have to be ready, because that kind of stuff happens."
What, however, may worry the Cardinals in the days to come is absence of such a prolific player. In the post-season games, Beltran holds a majestic .378 record when it comes to hitting, having had .838 slugging percentage; which indeed is extraordinary for a player.
Having had the experience of playing over 100 post-season games, the Cardinals will certainly miss Beltran on the field and plate. It remains to be seen if Carpenter executes things as perfectly as he did in Game 3. Otherwise, the Cardinals will then need a powerful combination of batters to survive the best rotation and bullpen by the Giants.
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