Cards' Flores Put on DL With Blister

Friday, June 24th 2005, 6:47 pm

By: News On 6

ST. LOUIS (AP) _ St. Louis Cardinals reliever Randy Flores was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday because of an unusual injury: When he removed his sock following a two-inning stint the previous night, a large patch of skin came off with it.

Flores, 29, has pitched more than 1,000 innings in the minor leagues and said he's missed only two starts in a career that began in 1997 with sporadic stops in the majors.

``So, to go down with a blister on my foot, I almost want to not lift my head up around the locker room,'' Flores said. ``It's kind of an embarrassing deal.''

Flores gave up five runs _ one earned _ in two innings in an 11-7 loss to the Pirates on Thursday. In 26 games, he is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA and one save.

The Cardinals recalled left-hander Carmen Cali from Triple-A Memphis. Cali, in his third stint with the team, was 2-3 with a 4.45 ERA and two saves.

Flores apparently injured the bottom of his push-off foot, near the ball, scuffing it on the rubber. He wasn't aware of the injury until he came off the field for the last time.

``There's been jokes around the clubhouse because you can't really explain what happened,'' Flores said. ``It just ripped off my foot at some point.

``But there was no indication that spot was going to do what it did.''

Flores drew no parallels to Curt Schilling's celebrated bloody sock in the playoffs last fall, saying the Hall of Fame won't be asking for his sock.

``Maybe the Pacific Coast Hall of Fame,'' Flores joked.

Manager Tony La Russa didn't think it would take Flores, one of two left-handers in the bullpen along with Ray King, 15 days to recover.

``But he's out until sometime next week, and we just can't pitch short,'' La Russa said.

In his last two outings before being optioned to Memphis on May 5, the 26-year-old Cali allowed five runs in 1 2-3 innings. A 10th-round pick in 2000 by the Cardinals, he made his major league debut last September.

``He has a lot of talent and he's got good guts,'' La Russa said. ``He's got everything you look for, he just needs experience.''

Cali was 0-0 with a 15.00 ERA in three innings with the Cardinals, allowing three home runs.