Cardinals place Molina on 15-day D.L.; recall Perez from Memphis

The St. Louis Cardinals have placed All-Star catcher Yadier Molina on the 15-day disabled list with a torn ligament in his right thumb and catcher Audry (OW-dree) Perez has been recalled from Memphis (AAA) to take his spot on the Major League.

Molina, who will turn 32 in three days, injured the thumb on his right throwing hand after advancing to third base in the second inning of Wednesday night's game against Pittsburgh. He is scheduled to undergo surgery tomorrow.

The Cardinals catcher was voted by the fans to start for the National League in the All-Star Game on Tuesday and will not be active to play. Molina was batting .287 with 7 home runs and 30 runs batted in while leading the Major Leagues by throwing out 47 percent of attempted base stealers this season and ranking tied for second with three pick-offs.  

This is the fourth stint on the disabled list for Molina during his 11 year Major League career. In 2013, Molina missed 14 games from July 31 through August 14 with a right knee sprain as the Cardinals posted a 6-8 record in his absence.  

Perez, 25, played in 44 games at Triple-A Memphis this season batting .288 with 2 HR and 21 RBI. He posted a .993 fielding percentage while throwing out 29 percent (10 caught stealing/35 attempts) of attempted base stealers this season. The catcher from Sabana Grande de Palenque, Dominican Republic, played in two Major League games during the 2013 season and had one at-bat.