Matt Holliday injury: Cardinals placed outfielder on DL

The St. Louis Cardinals placed outfielder Matt Holliday on the 15-day DL with a strained right hamstring the team announced on Saturday. The injury was sustained before the All-Star break and is retroactive to July 12. To replace Holliday, the Cardinals purchased the contract of first baseman/outfielder Brock Peterson.

Holliday left the July 11 game against the Chicago Cubs in the fourth inning while running out a ground ball.

The 33-year old slugger was not on the All-Star team for the first time since 2009 and is current hitting .268 with 13 home runs, 37 RBI and a .351 OBP. Holliday's production is slightly down, as he has grounded into a league-leading 22 double plays. In addition, Holliday has played in at least 155 games in five of the last seven seasons.

Peterson is a 29 year old career minor leaguer. After 11 seasons, Peterson will finally get his first taste of The Show. Peterson has hit .306 with 22 home runs in 390 plate appearances for Memphis.

St. Louis currently has a two-game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates and a five-game lead over the third place Cincinnati Reds, who currently hold the NL's final wild card spot.

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