~ St. Louis called up pitcher Tyler Johnson to fill the roster opening.

ST. LOUIS -- Sidney Ponson got the news he expected on Tuesday when the St. Louis Cardinals placed him on the 15-day disabled list with a strained muscle in his right elbow.

Ponson, 3-0 with a 2.81 ERA, had to leave Sunday's 9-1 victory over the Florida Marlins after throwing three innings. The Cardinals are calling the injury an acute flexor muscle strain, and for Ponson one day without a move held no suspense.

"They gave me a hunch, yes," Ponson said. "If they didn't do it, they'd be one guy short."

Off days Thursday and next Monday will allow the Cardinals to get by with a four-man rotation until a three-game series at Kansas City beginning on May 19 when they'd have to call up a pitcher from the minors or have the bullpen combine on a game. Even without that break in the schedule, manager Tony La Russa said the team would be cautious.

The move was backdated to Monday and La Russa said Ponson would not throw for a week.

"This just ensures that we're not tempted to rush him," La Russa said. "We just want him to take the 15 days to be sure."

St. Louis recalled left-hander Tyler Johnson from Class AAA Memphis to take Ponson's spot, giving the Cardinals eight relievers.

Rincon may have surgery

One of the relievers who's on the DL, left-hander Ricardo Rincon, said he expected to undergo season-ending surgery to repair a shoulder injury and remove bone chips in his elbow.

"I've been working hard on rehab for eight days, working my shoulder, my elbow," Rincon said. "Yesterday I exercised for the doctor. Not good. He says, no more rehab for you."

General manager Walt Jocketty said Rincon was jumping the gun.

"The doctor hasn't said it's surgery for sure yet," Jocketty said. "He's thinking that."

Ponson has been relatively happy with the start to his comeback from alcohol problems that led to his release by the Orioles last September, except for an inability to pitch deep into games. He had yet to throw seven innings.

"I'm giving the team a chance to win every time I go out there, that's the only thing I worry about," Ponson said. "Like I've said, I'm not big on wins and losses; wins and losses are for my agent in the offseason.

"I'm a team guy, you can ask any of the teammates I've played with."

The Cardinals were unhappy Rincon kept his physical problems to himself before finally telling them. La Russa also blamed Rincon's participation in the World Baseball Classic for his injuries.

"It's the consequence of pitching competitively before you're ready," La Russa said. "It's a very unfair competition for high-profile big-leaguers be-cause they were not ready to compete the first part of March.

"It's upsetting when it's over and everybody was 'Oh, hey, this was such a success."'

Rincon, who was placed on the DL on April 28, is 0-0 with a 10.80 ERA in five appearances and has not pitched since April 18. Rincon said the World Baseball Classic is not why he's hurt; instead he said he felt pain pitching in cold weather in Chicago earlier in April.

"My problem was in Chicago, not the baseball classic," Rincon said.

Johnson was 0-0 with an 8.64 ERA at Memphis, numbers inflated by giving up a grand slam recently to Aaron Guiel of the Royals' Triple-A Omaha affiliate. He had worked only 8 1/3 innings.

"I don't have particularly the best numbers to be called up," Johnson said. "I had a 24.00 ERA after two innings at Memphis, but I've got it down some."