Waino returns to STL to get elbow checked

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day after throwing seven shutout innings against Tampa Bay and acknowledging he did it with "subpar" stuff, Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright returned to St. Louis on Wednesday to have his right elbow checked.

General manager John Mozeliak said an MRI revealed that no damage had been done to the elbow ligament that was replaced when Wainwright underwent Tommy John surgery in 2011.

Mozeliak said that the condition was "similar to tennis elbow" and that the 32-year-old righthander received an anti-inflammatory injection today.

"We know the importance of him to our rotation and the importance of making sure he's in the rotation," Mozeliak said. "We want to be extra cognizant of what he needs to stay in the rotation and be healthy from here. We are going to be cautious with this."



Wainwright leads the National League with nine wins. His next scheduled start is Monday against the New York Mets at Busch Stadium.

After his win Tuesday in the Cardinals' 1-0 victory against the Rays, Wainwright outlined how already this season he's pitched a couple games with a sore back, how he pitched through tendinitis without revealing it publicly, and how he's dealt with hold cold-like symptoms for more than a month. He wonders if the latter might be allergies. He also pitched a game with the flu.