DENVER -- Colorado Rockies closer Huston Street has biceps tendinitis in his pitching arm and is being shut down for an undetermined amount of time.
Street said he first felt discomfort Tuesday night when he threw a six-pitch ninth inning against the New York Mets in his first action in a week. He brushed it off as the effects of a weeklong layoff.
He tested out his arm before the game and said it didn't feel
any worse. But he couldn't get loose in the bullpen during
Colorado's eighth-inning rally, so left-hander Franklin Morales
filled in and recorded his first major league save Wednesday night.
Colorado's 5-2 win against the Mets allowed the Rockies to stay atop the
NL wild-card standings.
Street, who has 33 saves in 34 chances, said he expects to be
out a few days but no longer than a week.
Street said he understood manager Jim Tracy's decision to shut
him down now rather than risk a longer layoff by letting him try to
work through the injury.
"If left up to me I'd have been one to jog out there," Street
said.
But ...
"They made the right call. Obviously, it's not easy to live
with," Street said. "But they've got to do what's best for the
Rockies and we've played way too good a season for me to go out
there and try to be a hero and muscle up."
Street said he would likely rest for a couple of days and try to
play toss by the weekend.
"There's really no timetable right now," he said. "We've got
the pieces to fill in for a little while."
The Rockies have been snake-bit while trying to fend off San
Francisco in the NL wild-card chase.
First, they lost ace Aaron Cook to a strained pitching shoulder
last week. Then Carlos Gonzalez, whose hot bat in August powered
Colorado into the wild-card lead, missed crucial games against the
Giants and Dodgers with a hand injury, and center fielder
Dexter Fowler went on the DL after fouling a ball off his right knee.
Street took a week off when the Rockies went several days
without a save opportunity, a stretch that included a five-game
losing streak.
"When you haven't thrown for seven days, you don't expect your
arm to feel the same," Street said. "Late in the season
especially you always feel better when you're getting consistent
work. But there were no save situations. And late in the season,
too, you don't need to just get some work in -- and coming off of
throwing seven out of eight games, the rest seemed in order.
"That's why it's kind of a shock to me."