Holliday exits with right quad strain

DENVER -- Matt Holliday left Monday's 11-3 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field in the bottom of the second with a right quad strain, according to the Cardinals. He suffered the injury after falling in pursuit of a double off the bat of Carlos Gonzalez.

"It's something with the quad," manager Mike Matheny said after the game. "We need to talk to the medical team a little more too before we jump to any conclusions."

Holliday was charging in for the shallow fly and tripped, apparently injuring his quad while landing on his right knee. It was immediately clear that Holliday was in great pain, as he grabbed his leg and rolled in agony on the field as third baseman Matt Carpenter retrieved the ball.

"I have no idea what happened," Matheny said of Holliday's stumble. "I was looking back to see where the runner was, and the next thing you know I see him on the ground.

"It was bad. I was afraid it was the knee when I got there. I don't know which is worse than the other."

Holliday eventually stood up and walked off the field with Matheny and the training staff to respectful applause from the Colorado crowd. Holliday came up with the Rockies and played with the team from 2004-2008, patrolling the spacious left field.

"Fortunately he was able to walk off, which is always a good sign, but it was an unpleasant walk," Matheny said. "It's scary when you see a guy as tough as him go down."

The defense was shifted to the right for the left-handed hitting Gonzalez, and Holliday had a lot of ground to cover in chasing the fly to straight-away left field. Carpenter was positioned in the shortstop spot and also had a long route to the shallow fly, and the hang time allowed Gonzalez to leg out a double.

Jon Jay came into the game to play center field, and Randal Grichuk slid over from center field to left field. The Cardinals were losing 5-0 when Holliday left the game. Jay hit a solo home run in the sixth inning.

Video: STL@COL: Jay launches solo homer to right in the 6th

"This one's going to sting a little bit," starting pitcher John Lackey said when asked if the Cardinals could put this game out of their minds. "We might have lost our left fielder tonight.

"That's a huge deal for sure. We need all the offense we can get. We can't lose our three-hole hitter. Hopefully the news comes back good, but it's tough to see him come out of the game for sure."

Holliday was not available for comment after the game, sending word that he wanted to wait until further evaluation on Tuesday before offering a comment.

Matheny noted that the front office was "a little busy" with the draft -- they took outfielder Nick Plummer with their first pick (No. 23 overall) just as Holliday was leaving the field -- and there had been no discussions yet about making a move regarding Holliday, who is expected to see local doctors in the Denver area Tuesday.

Video: Draft 2015: Cardinals draft OF Nick Plummer No. 23

"I'm not going to try to predict what might be going on," Matheny said. "I really didn't go there much in my mind during the game. It's something we're going to have to sort through now."