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UPDATE: David Freese was activated from the disabled list prior to Monday's home opener and played eight innings for the Cards in his 2013 debut. The slugging third baseman went 0-for-3 with a strikeout on the day.
Freese played in three rehab games with Triple-A Memphis, going 4-for-12 with two doubles in 16 innings, getting a full game's work in at third in his final game on Sunday, per Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.
Infielder Ryan Jackson was optioned to Triple-A to make room on the roster for Freese.
ORIGINAL: St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese began his minor league rehab assignment last night, playing seven innings for the St. Louis' Triple-A affiliate, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.
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Freese went 1-for-4 last night over his seven innings, marking his first game action since March 22. He opened the regular season on the disabled list with a lower back injury. He was scheduled to begin his rehab assignment Thursday night, but the contest was rained out. Instead, the Cardinals' Triple-A squad played two seven-innings games yesterday.
Batting third, Freese's lone hit was an two-run double that came during an eight-run fifth inning. Nothing was hit to Freese in the field, and he wasn't scheduled to start the second game of the doubleheader.
Initially, St. Louis was planning on having Freese available for Monday's home opener. At this point, it's unclear if Thursday's rain out will delay that. Manager Mike Matheny said that Freese will be evaluated as the weekend continues before the team makes a decision about his pending activation.
