SAN FRANCISCO • As many times as Tommy Pham was on base Thursday night, it shouldn't have been a surprise when one of the bases hit back.
Although originally scheduled to start Friday night during Jack Flaherty's major-league debut, Pham was a scratch from the starters early Friday afternoon because of a bruised thumb. Pham showed a reporter the thumb late Thursday night and suggested that it might swell up to a point that it was too inflexible to hit. It did.
Pham had softened the thumb some by game time Friday night, and the Cardinals believed he would be available to play defense, if needed.