Left knee still sore, Kendrick lands on DL

CLEVELAND -- Howie Kendrick's sprained left knee didn't progress steadily enough over the last four days, prompting the Angels to put their reliable second baseman on the 15-day disabled list Friday.

"It sucks, but there's nothing you can do about it," said Kendrick, who was having somewhat of a career year with a .301/.341/.437 slash line. "You play the game hard, sometimes injuries happen. It was something that I couldn't avoid."

Kendrick hurt himself in a game against the Rangers at Angel Stadium on Monday night, ranging back on a fly ball before his left knee caught the right forearm of right fielder Collin Cowgill, sending Kendrick to the ground in agonizing pain and forcing him to be helped off the field.

An MRI exam on Kendrick's left knee revealed no structural damage, prompting the club to give the 30-year-old an extra four to five days to see how he responded. But, as Mike Scioscia said prior to Friday's game, "He's still sore."

"He's made a little progress, but in talking to [head athletic trainer Adam Nevala], it's not the type of progress you'd hope to see where he might not have to go on the DL," said Scioscia, who still has to determine a corresponding move. "We'll have a decision on that at some point in the next day."

Kendrick traveled with the team to Cleveland, but was getting treatment all day and hadn't been able to do any running since suffering the injury. His DL stint -- his first since May 2011 -- is retroactive to Tuesday, allowing him to return as soon as Aug. 21.

"The way I look at it is it could've been a lot worse," Kendrick said. "Hopefully it'll just be 15 days or whatever and go from there."