Cardinals activate Lance Berkman

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ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals activated first baseman Lance Berkman off the 15-day disabled list, and he was batting fifth Sunday against the Atlanta Braves.

Berkman had been sidelined since April 19 with a strained left calf aggravated chasing a pop fly. Outfielder Shane Robinson, batting .311 with a home run and five RBIs in 23 games, was optioned to Triple-A Memphis.

Berkman, the NL comeback player of the year in 2011, played in seven of the Cardinals' first 33 games. He was batting .348 with two doubles, a triple and two RBIs.

He had hoped to have been activated sooner, but experienced soreness after running in Arizona earlier this week.

Matt Carpenter and Allen Craig got the bulk of the playing time at first base while Berkman was sidelined. Craig, who had homered in four of the six previous games, started in left field Sunday with Matt Holliday getting a day off.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

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