Indians expect Carmona to miss 4 weeks

5/25/2008 12:04 PM

CLEVELAND (AP) -Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona is expected to be sidelined four weeks with a strained left hip.

An MRI exam revealed a moderate strain of an exterior muscle in Carmona's left hip, Lonnie Soloff, Cleveland's head athletic trainer, said Sunday.

``The good news is that there was no damage to the interior, which would have been much more serious,'' Soloff said. ``If all goes well, Fausto should be able to start playing catch in about seven days.''

Carmona emerged as one of the AL's top pitchers a year ago when he compiled a 19-8 record and 3.06 ERA. This year, he went 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA through his first nine starts before giving up six runs in two innings Friday night in a 13-9 loss to the Texas Rangers.

The 24-year-old right-hander strained his hip in the third inning when he covered first base on a grounder hit by the Rangers' David Murphy.

The Indians are expected to activate right-hander Jake Westbrook to take Carmona's place in the rotation, which has an AL-best 3.21 ERA this season.

Westbrook has been out since April 22 with a strained muscle near his left ribcage. At the time Carmona was injured in Cleveland, Westbrook was pitching six scoreless innings on a rehab assignment at Double-A Akron.