St. Louis Cardinals rookie reliever Eduardo Sanchez, who briefly nabbed the closer's role after a sensational debut before succumbing to shoulder stiffness, allowed one run in an inning and a third in his first rehab appearance with the AA Springfield Cardinals.
Pitching in relief of top prospect Shelby Miller Sanchez pitched a scoreless inning before hitting the first batter he faced in his second inning of work. A single and a wild pitch scored the run, and after a strikeout Sanchez was replaced by former starter David Kopp, who got out of the inning without any further trouble.
Sanchez, who struck out 33 batters in his first 28.2 innings in the Major Leagues after a brief, stellar career as the Cardinals' minor league closer of the future, is expected to make three rehab appearances in total before returning to the Cardinals' bullpen soon after the end of the All-Star Break. In his absence the Cardinals have relied increasingly on new closer Fernando Salas as well as fellow deposed closer Mitchell Boggs.