ST. LOUIS — Infielder Mark DeRosa will miss a few games with a strained tendon in his left wrist, an injury that had he and St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak both fretting last night until encouraging news this morning from team physicians.

“A best-case scenario?” DeRosa said. “This was the best-case scenario.”

DeRosa met with a team doctor and a hand specialist Wednesday and underwent a battery of exams — including an X-ray — to determine the severity of the soreness he felt in his left wrist Tuesday night. DeRosa felt the wrist give during a swing against Randy Johnson. He did not play the rest of the game, and he went for initial exams late that night. The Cardinals learned Wednesday morning that DeRosa would miss the next few days, but they felt encouraged enough not to put him on the disabled list.

“God blessed me with entirely too much torque in my bottom hand,” DeRosa joked. He added: “I could still definitely go out and play defense, go out and pinch run for somebody.”

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