St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia (54) pitches during the first inning of the 2012 NLDS against the Washington Nationals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE
(The Cardinal Nation Show) -- Jaime Garcia's first start of the postseason probably will be his last.
Garcia, after laboring through 51 pitches in two innings Monday in the Cardinals' 12-4 National League Division Series win over Washington, came out with more shoulder issues. He missed two months of the season with a tear and went for an MRI after coming out of Monday's game.
Garcia probably will be replaced on the roster for this round by left-handed reliever Sam Freeman. Garcia then could not come back onto a postseason roster until the World Series although it is doubtful he will be back at all this season.
Though he didn't tell manager Mike Matheny until Monday, Garcia said he had felt some discomfort while throwing a recent bullpen session.
"It just didn't feel right. It was hurting. It wasn't feeling the way it had been the last couple weeks," Garcia said.
"It actually happened a couple days ago. Usually you get a little stiff or sore between starts. That's part of pitching. As you get closer to gametime the stiffness and the soreness goes away.
"This is one of those things where it didn't get better."
If the Cardinals proceed further on the playoff trail, they probably will insert Lance Lynn, an 18-game winner, into the rotation. Lynn, who has relieved in all three Cardinals postseason games, got the win on Monday with three innings of strong relief.
"No excuses," said Garcia."It's hard to explain to where you're saying too much pain affects your velocity, your command, I can't really talk about that. It just wasn't right.
"It's a really tough situation for me right now."