Cardinals LF Holliday placed on 15-day DL with quad strain

St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday waits to bat against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game Monday, June 8, 2015, in Denver.
St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday waits to bat against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game Monday, June 8, 2015, in Denver.

DENVER (AP) - The St. Louis Cardinals have placed left fielder Matt Holliday on the 15-day disabled list with a Grade 2 right quadriceps strain.

The Cardinals recalled right-hander Miguel Socolovich from Triple-A Memphis. He's available to pitch against the Rockies on Tuesday night.

Holliday was injured charging for Carlos Gonzalez's fly ball in the second inning of Monday's loss to Colorado. Holliday tripped and fell forward on his right knee. He grabbed his knee while on the ground. After a few minutes, he stood and walked off the field.

Holliday didn't make himself available to the media before Tuesday's game against the Rockies. Manager Mike Matheny said the outfielder was feeling down but planned on staying with the team instead of heading back to St. Louis early.

"As soon as I saw him inside afterwards he was shaking his head," Matheny said. "You hate to see that happen to anybody. I don't care if they're one of the worst years of their career let alone to have the kind of start Matt's had and be a big piece of what we're doing."

Jon Jay is in Tuesday's lineup in left field.

"We've got some guys that can really play this game and they're going to get an opportunity," Matheny said. "Matt knows that as well. Right now we're praying for quick healing."

Holliday is the third Cardinals player to suffer a quadriceps strain. First baseman Matt Adams had surgery to repair a tear in the muscle last month and is out for the season.

Matheny said the team will see how Holliday progresses before putting a timetable on his recovery.

"We'll take those 15 days and reevaluate because we don't know how it's going to heal in that time," he said. "We'll take that time to figure out. Matt's been kind of freakish in his ability to bounce back from things.

Holliday, who is hitting .303 with three home runs and 25 RBIs in 52 games this season, is on the disabled list for the first time since July 2013.