Updated: May 23, 2012, 8:15 PM ET
Associated PressST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals put utilityman Matt Carpenter on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday because of a strained right side muscle.
Carpenter was batting .288 with three home runs and 20 RBIs in 39 games with most of his starts at first base in place of injured Lance Berkman.
Carpenter is the fifth player the team has put on the DL this week, following Jon Jay, Allen Craig, Kyle McClellan and Berkman. St. Louis has seven players on the DL altogether.
"It's part of the gig, I knew that going in," manager Mike Matheny said. "There's a twisted side of most of us that when those challenges come up it's hey, you kind of throw your shoulders back a little bit further and here we go."
Rookie Matt Adams made his fourth start at first base Wednesday against the Padres.
Carpenter was hurt coming out of the batter's box on a double in the first inning Tuesday. The Cardinals were optimistic after the game that Carpenter might miss only a few games because he was able to torque his body and didn't feel much pain.
"The MRI showed something in there," Matheny said. "I think he's got a really high pain tolerance to where it just didn't seem like it was that big of a deal, but it is."
The Cardinals purchased the contract of catcher Steven Hill from Triple-A Memphis. The 27-year-old Hill has also started at first base, left field and right field, and homered in consecutive games Sunday and Monday.
"He's been swinging the bat pretty well and has a little bit of versatility," Matheny said. "It seemed like the choice for the time."
Third baseman David Freese was back in the lineup after sitting two games, a mental and physical break for a player in a 3-for-34 slump.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
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