McKenry out for season after left knee surgery

PITTSBURGH -- Catcher Michael McKenry will miss the rest of the season after tearing the lateral meniscus in his left knee. He underwent surgery in Los Angeles on Tuesday and hopes to be ready for Spring Training in 2014.

McKenry, 28, injured the knee sliding into second base on Saturday against the Marlins, though he stayed in the game because Russell Martin had tweaked his knee the previous night.

"The team needed me, and I needed to stay in there," McKenry, who went 4-for-5 in the win, said on Monday. "It hurt, it really hurt. I'm not going to lie to you. It could have caused some extra problems, but it doesn't matter. Russ' knee was barking, and I had to take one for the team. Like I told my wife when she asked the same thing, 'I wouldn't take it back for a heartbeat.'"

Tony Sanchez, who caught his first Major League game on Tuesday, will likely back up Martin for the rest of the year. The fourth overall pick in the 2009 Draft, Sanchez has two hits in 11 at-bats this season.

Prior to that four-hit game on Saturday, McKenry was just 6-for-47 since June 1. But in his last four games, he went 7-for-14 with four RBIs. He had a .217/.262/.348 line in 41 games this season.

General manager Neil Huntington said that the club has enough time to explore the market for available catchers and will continue to look for Minor League options to provide depth behind the plate.

"We're very comfortable with Tony Sanchez up here. We did look to see if there was a guy that would provide us with some emergency insurance," Huntington said. "We'll continue to explore that market; there's some guys in Triple-A that have some Major League ability, so we'll continue to look for some small trade. You can make deals for players who are not on Major League rosters. So we'll continue to look for external options to upgrade our depth, for sure."