[BigRedChief]

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter will skip his scheduled between-starts throw today and return to St. Louis to meet with a team doctor about the arm pain that forced him from Sunday's game.

After reporting minimal soreness in his right arm Monday, the righthander said he planned to throw a bullpen session, as scheduled, this afternoon at Dolphin Stadium. Upon further discussion, however, before Carpenter picks up a baseball team officials want Dr. George Paletta to evaluate what has been called a triceps strain.

The decision and the discomfort mean it is doubtful Carpenter will make his next start, set for Friday at Cincinnati.

"We felt, given the history Carpenter has had with George and what's at stake with him being just back from (elbow surgery), this just made the most sense," general manager John Mozeliak said. "Nobody knows Carp better than Carp, but a close second would be Dr. Paletta."
"We want to avoid this becoming a major setback in any way," Mozeliak continued. "Better to be precautionary."

Carpenter threw 66 pitches over 5 1/3 innings against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday night. He felt discomfort in the back of his upper arm as he delivered a fastball to Jim Edmonds. He threw one more pitch, felt the same pain, and then was removed from the game. Carpenter said Monday the pain was localized to the length of his triceps, which runs down the back of the arm to the elbow. But he hesitated to speculate on the cause.

The righthander went through a battery of tests that night at Wrigley Field and again Monday in Miami to gauge a reason for the soreness. Team officials and Carpenter said the tests and exercises performed Sunday and Monday were "encouraging," but not entirely revealing.

"I did a lot of exercises with weights, stretching, all the normal stuff for (the rotator cuff) and it felt fine," Carpenter said. "There are some spots they get me where I can still feel it. ... It's still a little sore."

Carpenter said several times that the pain is not generating from his surgically repaired elbow"My elbow," he insisted, "is fine."

Carpenter will fly to St. Louis this morning and meet with Paletta shortly after his arrival. Paletta's diagnosis will determine a course of action — whether he can return immediately to throwing, whether rest will be prescribed or whether there is something more severe with the arm that could cause an extended absence.

Carpenter returned to the rotation July 30 of this season, and Sunday was his third start since coming off the disabled list. Carpenter called it progress. He said during his 66-pitch outing against the Cubs his "breaking ball got better, like I was hoping, and I could locate fastball. I had more good pitches. It was a step forward."

Until, that is, the fastball to Edmonds.

"We don't want to play a guessing game with what could be wrong," Mozeliak said. "We just want to make sure we're not going backward. He's done so many positive things to get to this point, to get himself back here, that we don't want to risk that. This is a cautionary thing."