ST. LOUIS, MO—Mere hours after hitting a solo home run in the home and season opener for the St. Louis Cardinals, Matt Holliday will undergo emergency surgery to remove his appendix.

He began feeling severe pain upon returning home after the Cards lost 5-3 in extra innings to the San Diego Padres.

Club GM John Mozeliak was unsure of how long the slugger will be out of the lineup and could only say that they will wait for the results of the surgery before making any roster moves. “It could be something like six or seven days, it could be more,” Mozeliak said. “We don’t know at this point. We certainly will know more later.”

Holliday now admits to feeling soreness as early as Thursday that persisted and became stronger through Friday morning. He was examined by a doctor Friday morning, but the cause of the soreness was still undetermined.

Doctors will be able to remove the appendix before it ruptures, which bodes well for his recovery time. However, the Cardinals are now down to four outfielders in his absence, most notably Colby Rasmus and Lance Berkman.

More information will be made available as the story develops and after his surgery is complete.

Quotes courtesy of stltoday.com.

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