51黑料

And that will be by design.

Hours after a three-hit, three-RBI evening with Class AAA Memphis in Gwinnett, Georgia, Walker returned from his rehab assignment to the majors and a starting spot in right field for the Cardinals. The roster move to bring Walker back from the injured list was part of the Cardinals鈥� plan to buy another day before Brendan Donovan鈥檚 expected return Sunday and steal a few days off for struggling leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar. Manager Oliver Marmol said his preference is to go without using Nootbaar until Tuesday, when the Cardinals open a series on the south side of Chicago.

鈥淛ust meet-us-in-Chicago-type thing,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淭ake a breather and let鈥檚 get back on track. He鈥檒l find his way out of this.鈥�

Nootbaar had never struck out more than three times in a big-league game before this season, and Friday night鈥檚 four-K evening was his second in the past week.

He鈥檚 hitless during the Cardinals鈥� six-game losing streak, and his struggles add to the lineup鈥檚 overall malaise in the past week. The dip in production coincides with Donovan鈥檚 absence due to turf toe on his left foot, which has sidelined him and his team-high hits and doubles. And the downturn began shortly after Walker鈥檚 move to the 10-day IL with wrist pain. Walker had started to provide more at the plate for the team after a shift in his stance at the plate that gave his swing a direct line to pitches.

鈥淗e was starting to into a pretty good rhythm,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淭he adjustment with his hands got him more direct to the ball. He felt better about his at-bats. They were looking a lot better. The timing of the injury kind of stinks because he was starting to feel it hopefully he can pick up right there.鈥�

Walker declined comment Saturday due to a busy pre-game schedule.

To make room on the active roster for Walker, the Cardinals optioned center fielder Michael Siani to Class AAA Memphis just a few days and one start after his promotion.

The Cardinals scheduled Walker for a minimum of two games with Memphis to make sure he recovered well. They did not expect him to need much time, if any, to regain his feel at the plate. He went 3 for 4 on Friday night with three singles, three RBIs, and two runs scored.

Donovan went through intensive and extensive workouts Friday at American Family Field, and afterward gave an encouraging report to the team鈥檚 trainers and Marmol about how his left big toe felt. He wore a carbon-fiber insert to limit its flexibility within his cleat, and that helped him feel more comfortable at the plate when his back foot twisted during his swing. Donovan was set to take batting practice at the field Saturday, and Marmol said that will prepare Donovan to be in the lineup Sunday for the series finale in Milwaukee.

鈥淲e鈥檙e just going through it right now,鈥� Marmol said of the offense. 鈥淚t stinks, but it鈥檚 different than other times when you鈥檙e just in a rut and can鈥檛 see you鈥檙e way out of it.鈥�

Fedde鈥檚 sweeping hope

Other than the baseball seams imprinted on his forearm, not too far from his left wrist, the lasting impact of Erick Fedde鈥檚 start Friday night was the restored zip to his sweeping slider.

Fedde took a line drive off his forearm in the fourth inning. His hand went numb 鈥渓ike you slept on it for 12 hours.鈥� After that initial scare, feeling returned and he had only the welt from the hit and stitches as a reminder. He continued to pitch into the sixth inning, and the bruise didn鈥檛 slow what was the real breakthrough of the evening.

His sweeper鈥檚 average velocity jumped up 1 mph to 82.3 mph and reached 85.2 mph.

鈥淢y stuff was as good as it鈥檚 been all year,鈥� Fedde said. 鈥淭o give up three runs feels like I wasted that stuff. 鈥� (Adding velocity to sweeper) was kind of the main goal. It鈥檚 been bigger this year. It hasn鈥檛 been harder. I feel guys haven鈥檛 had a problem seeing it. Today I had a lot of swings where guys didn鈥檛 see it well.鈥�

Fedde said he turned to teammate Sonny Gray for some guidance on how to reconnect with the breaking ball, its shape, and its speed. Gray and Fedde talked about everything from the use of the sweeper to thumb placement, which Fedde adjusted.

He got three swings-and-misses on the pitch in his 5 1/3 innings.

鈥淎ny time a pitch gets better it just protects the other stuff,鈥� Fedde said. 鈥淩eally, the swing and miss on the sweeper has been irrelevant this year. To have it back 鈥� I felt like that was one of the best pitches in baseball last year, my sweeper. To have that back is going to make everything else better. Hoping to build off of that.鈥�

Former Cardinal Johnny O鈥橞rien dies

A legend in Seattle, a former Cardinal, and grandfather to Cardinals reliever Riley O鈥橞rien, Johnny O鈥橞rien died Friday night, a member of his family confirmed Saturday. He was 94. The Seattle Times reported that he died of natural causes.

O鈥橞rien played in the 1950s, first as a rookie with the Pirates and then later, after a trade in June 1958, with the Cardinals. He was teammates with both Roberto Clemente and Stan Musial and his brother, Eddie. An accomplished All-American basketball player at Seattle University, Johnny O鈥橞rien once scored 43 points in an update of the Harlem Globetrotters.

This past spring, he talked to Post-Dispatch columnist Benjamin Hochman about his grandson following him to the Cardinals: 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a delight to see him pitch. My words to Riley have always been 鈥� throw strikes. And he鈥檚 got blazing stuff. 鈥� He鈥檚 a really good kid and a positive person. And, I might add, a hard worker.鈥�

Vilade claimed, etc.

The Cincinnati Reds claimed Ryan Vilade off waivers from the Cardinals, who designated the outfielder for assignment to open up a roster spot for reliever Andre Granillo this past week. Vilade will join the Reds鈥� active roster. 鈥� Days after making his major-league debut against the Cardinals wearing No. 33, Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski switched to No. 32, which was vacated Saturday when Milwaukee traded Aaron Civale to the White Sox. 鈥� A rally in the eighth inning Friday night lifted the Class AA Springfield Cardinals to a win and trimmed their magic number to clinch a first-half title down to five with eight games remaining. The Texas League awards a playoff berth to the top teams of the first half.