Kinney to undergo 'Tommy John' surgery, miss season

Pitcher Josh Kinney, a righthander who rose from the sandlots of Roulette and Port Allegany to a berth in baseball's World Series last fall, will need surgery to repair his throwing elbow, St. Louis Cardinals trainers said Thursday.

Results of a magnetic resonance image scan showed significant damage. Kinney will undergo "Tommy John" surgery and be out of action for over a year.

Kinney, who was a likely candidate to be closer Jason Isringhausen's "set-up man" for the major league team, had two rough outings in exhibition games before the Cardinals shut him down. He described to his teammates a tingling sensation and cramps in his right arm. He also notified team trainers that the elbow, on which he had surgery, had "locked up" after his second appearance.

Last year, he appeared in 21 games for the Cardinals, holding opponents to a .189 batting average. He then made seven scoreless appearances in the postseason.