Cardinals' Kennedy To Undergo Surgery

Sunday, August 12th 2007, 3:06 pm

By: News On 6

ST. LOUIS (AP) _ St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Adam Kennedy will be sidelined two to six weeks with torn cartilage in his right knee, the latest blow for the defending World Series champions.

Infielder Brendan Ryan was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. He and Aaron Miles likely will share playing time at second while Kennedy, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list, is out.

Miles started at second on Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ryan started at third base and batted ninth on a scheduled day off for Scott Rolen.

``I'm guessing he'll be back in September, but I don't know,'' manager Tony La Russa said of Kennedy.

Kennedy said the knee had been bothering him the last few days and an MRI exam on Sunday confirmed the injury. The team will schedule surgery in the next several days.

``I knew it wasn't good,'' Kennedy said. ``When you play sports long enough you know what hurts and what's injured.''

He has struggled all year after signing a free-agent contract with the Cardinals, batting .219 with three homers and 18 RBIs in 87 games. But Kennedy had been playing better lately.

Kennedy had played in five straight games for the first time since the All-Star break, and somewhere in that stretch he hurt the knee. He's unsure how it happened.

``The last couple of days it's been rough getting going out there,'' he said.

Ryan, 25, has batted .339 in 25 games with two homers and five RBIs with the Cardinals. This is his fourth stint with the team this season.

The Cardinals nearly recalled Ryan on Thursday, but they opted for outfielder Rick Ankiel instead. Ankiel started for the fourth straight game since his recall on Sunday. He has hit three homers.

La Russa altered his lineup about an hour before the game, scratching Juan Encarnacion due to knee soreness. So Taguchi got a spot start in center field, Ryan Ludwick moved from fifth to Encarnacion's spot at cleanup and Ankiel moved to right field from center field.