Cardinals star third baseman Arenado retired with back spasms

Star third baseman Nolan Arenado was removed from the starting lineup on Wednesday minutes before the start of the Cardinals' three-game finale with the Buccaneers. Nolan Gorman took his place in the starting line-up, with the first two hits opting for a free and right fielder, respectively.

The 34-year-old is on a daily watch list and is expected to travel with the team on nine road trips to Washington, Philadelphia and Kansas City. The Cardinals have no game on Thursday and will kick off a new series in Washington on Friday.

Arenado has played in 34 of his previous 37 games, including Saturday's double-game win over the Metropolitanores. He guarded third base in the first two games against the Pirates on Monday and Tuesday.

In his last seven games, Arenado has 27 hits and 7 hits (batting average of 0.259), but has not played long. The back discomfort caused him to miss the chance against Pirate pitcher Mitch Keller, a right-handed pitcher who had just four hits (0.148 batting average) and four strikeouts in 27.

This season, Arenado has a batting rate of 0.256 and contributed 3 hits and 14 RBIs. His highlight came on April 26 when he hit his sixth career goodbye home run against the Brewers.