MILWAUKEE • Not only was Cardinals lefthanded reliever Trever Miller unavailable for Wednesday night's series finale with the Brewers, he wasn't even in Milwaukee.
Miller went back to St. Louis on Wednesday to be examined by Dr. George Paletta because of soreness and stiffness near his left elbow. An MRI revealed no ligament damage, but Paletta's diagnosis was a forearm strain, which could keep Miller out anywhere from a week to as long as three weeks. The season has only 3½ weeks to go and the Cardinals have only one other lefthanded reliever, Dennys Reyes, who has had recent elbow problems himself and has pitched just twice since Aug. 3.
In other medical news, the club announced that third baseman David Freese, already out for the season after surgery to repair ligament damage in his right ankle, had arthroscopic surgery to take care of bone spurs and other tissue in his left ankle in Vail, Colo., where he had had the right ankle surgery. Freese had gone to Colorado to have his right ankle checked, and the left ankle also was worked on while he was there.
The left ankle surgery stems from an auto accident he suffered in the winter of 2009 that resulted in surgery during last season. The surgery on the right ankle was more severe, so Freese shouldn't be set back any further and he still hopes to be ready for spring training.
EPIC NUMBERS
When Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox match up for the last time in regular-season play in a four-game set beginning tonight in Atlanta, we will see something we may never see again.
It certainly will be the last time for a long time in which two managers who have more than 5,000 regular-season wins will oppose each other. La Russa doesn't dwell too long on such items, but he allowed that it's "pretty significant."
It will also be the first time this will have happened because when Cox and the Braves were in St. Louis at the end of April, the two managers were just shy of 5,000 regular-season victories.
Cox, who has announced his retirement at the end of the season, had 2,492 wins and La Russa had 2,624 victories before Wednesday. Cox is fourth on the all-time list and La Russa third.
The two men ahead of them, Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,763), have been gone for many years. Joe Torre, who was fifth with 2,315, may well retire at the end of the season at age 70, so if he and La Russa never met in regular-season play again, there is no other combination on the horizon that could approach 5,000 regular-season victories.
La Russa and Cox have benefited from "longevity and good fortune," La Russa said.
La Russa, who first took note of Cox's brilliance when the former was with the Chicago White Sox and Cox with Toronto in the early 1980s, said, "I admire him. On a scale of 10, he's 10. Personally, for sure. Professionally. Because he goes about it exactly right.
"He tries to beat you. They play really hard and intensely to do that. But no dirty tricks. No cheap shots. But he's there to beat you. That's why they put the two teams on the field.
"He's had a career, though. He's won a lot more than I have."
Cox had 13 consecutive division titles with the Braves. In head-to-head action with La Russa's teams, Cox has a 105-78 edge, counting two postseason series, although the Cardinals swept four games from the Braves in April.
SIGN OF RESPECT
A number of Cardinals, including La Russa, remained in the dugout Tuesday to watch Milwaukee reliever Trevor Hoffman celebrate his 600th career save on the field.
"Fifteen years of 40 saves," said Duncan, offering one bit of math on how such a feat would be achieved.
"I would have hung my spikes up today," said Duncan, smiling. "I wouldn't have wanted to take the chance of blowing another (save).
"When you stop and think about it, 300 saves is a benchmark. He doubled it. And he hasn't always pitched for great teams."
