Carlos Beltran in Cardinals' lineup for World Series Game 2

Beltran slammed into the rightfield wall and bruised his ribs while robbing David Ortiz of a grand slam in Game 1. (Al Tielemans/SI) One night after leaving
Carlos Beltran in Cardinals' lineup for World Series Game 2
Carlos Beltran in Cardinals' lineup for World Series Game 2 /

Beltran slammed into the rightfield wall and bruised his ribs while robbing David Ortiz of a grand slam in Game 1. (Al Tielemans/SI)

Carlos Beltran, Cardinals

One night after leaving the first World Series game of his excellent 16-year career with an apparent rib injury, Cardinals rightfielder Carlos Beltran will be back in the lineup for St. Louis in Game 2, according to a tweet from FoxSports' Ken Rosenthal. Beltran hurt himself crashing into the rightfield wall while reaching into the visitor's bullpen to take a grand slam away from Boston's David Ortiz in the second inning of Game 1. He came out of the game one inning later and went to a local hospital for x-rays and a CT scan, which came back negative.

Beltran has been the biggest run-producer in the St. Louis lineup this postseason, with 12 RBIs, twice as many as the next-highest total by a teammate (Matt Holliday has six). He is also, along with Holliday, the only Cardinal with multiple home runs, and he leads the team's regulars in on-base percentage and slugging.

St. Louis will need as much offense as it can muster tonight after picking up just a single run -- on Holliday's third homer of the postseason, a solo shot in the ninth inning -- in Game 1.

The Dodgers' Hanley Ramirez recently tried to play through a rib injury he suffered in Game 1 of the NLCS, when a fastball from the Cards' Joe Kelly left him with a fracture. Ramirez was not the same the rest of the series, going just 2-for-15 from that point on as Los Angeles lost the series in six games.

LEMIRE: Beltran and Ortiz linked again, with World Series fates at stake


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Ted Keith
TED KEITH

Ted Keith is a senior editor for Sports Illustrated and oversees SI.com’s baseball and college basketball coverage. He is also the co-host of SI.com’s weekly baseball podcast, “The Strike Zone.”