Injury keeps Molina on bench

SAN FRANCISCO -- A.J. Pierzynski started at catcher in place of injured Yadier Molina for the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.

Molina, a six-time All-Star, strained his left oblique in St. Louis' win over the San Francisco Giants in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series.

Pierzynski caught Lackey's first 18 starts this season when the two were teammates in Boston, contributing to Cardinals manager Mike Matheny's decision to go with him Tuesday. The two teamed up for two more starts in St. Louis and have a good rapport.

Pierzynski went 0 for 4 in the Cardinals' 5-4 loss in 10 innings.

Matheny said Molina is not in danger of making his injury worse by playing but has significant pain in his side. Molina is not able to take batting practice yet but could be used as a defensive replacement if he comes out of his pregame workouts feeling good enough to play.

"We know that he's going to push when he can push," Matheny said. "As long as we're not risking him hurting himself further, we're going to allow him to keep moving forward."

Molina, who had started 83 consecutive postseason games for the Cardinals, did go to the bullpen to help warm up closer Trevor Rosenthal, but did not get into the game.