HOUSTON -- St. Louis Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday is scheduled to undergo surgery Wednesday to repair his broken right thumb, the team announced. The news casts further doubt on Hollidays ability to play again this season.Holliday was struck in the hand by a pitch from Chicago Cubs reliever Mike Montgomery on Thursday night in Chicago. Holliday consulted with a hand specialist Monday in St. Louis and spent the evening debating whether to have surgery. He opted to do so on Tuesday.According to Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, the hand specialist informed Holliday that having surgery now would be his only path to return this season. However, theres no guarantee Holliday can return -- doctors should have a better idea after the procedure -- but there would have been no chance if he had allowed the bone to heal on its own.The team has not given a specific timetable for Hollidays return.Its impressive hes going to go through something like that just with the chance that something might happen later, Matheny said.St. Louis is 12 games behind the Cubs in the National League Central, but the Cards are in the wild-card hunt. Montgomery said it wasnt on purpose after he hit Holliday with a 94 mph fastball and said he was just trying to pitch inside.Holliday, 36, is in the final season of a seven-year, $120 million contract. The team holds a $17 million option on him for 2017. He is batting .242 with a .768 OPS. He trails only Brandon Moss in home runs on the Cardinals, with 19.Holliday has batted third in 85 of the Cardinals 118 games this season. In his absence, players such as Randal Grichuk and Tommy Pham figure to get more playing time.Its super disappointing, but its part of the sport, unfortunately, Holliday said at the time.The Cardinals also announced that reliever Seth Maness will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. Maness was put on the 15-day disabled list for the second time this season because of elbow pain. The team recalled right-hander Sam Tuivailala from Triple-A Memphis. Cheap Los Angeles Rams Jerseys China .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Cheap Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys China . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. http://www.cheapfootballchina.com/cheap-houston-texans-jerseys-china_455w.html . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Arizona Cardinals Zach Allen Jersey . By having more great seasons. Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. Cheap Football Gear . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th. Match factsAugust 6-11, BulawayoStart time 0930 local (0730 GMT)Big PictureA week ago, Zimbabwe were wondering how to stay alive in the first Test against New Zealand. Now, they will be thinking about saving the two-match series and denying New Zealand a chance to claim a cup from the first leg of their self-termed African safari.Victory for Zimbabwe and a share of the spoils seems improbable unless they are able to correct perennial problems that creep into their approach, almost all of which stem from a lack of game time. Their struggle to build partnerships and bat for long periods of time will be crippled further by the absence of Hamilton Masakadza, who will miss the Test with a back injury. Their attacks battle to sustain pressure over extended periods also result in them falling behind early on. They have showed the ability to fight back, but that will probably not be enough against a more complete New Zealand unit.For New Zealand, a second victory and a clean sweep would be the perfect start in their search for more consistency after they lost ground to Australia. It will also give Kane Williamson a solid foundation on which to build his captaincy and sound a warning to South Africa that they could prove a challenge. Coach Mike Hesson could not find too many work-ons after the first Test but Trent Boults pace - which averaged in the late 120s - and the spinners returns will be areas to zone in on.The other area of interest will be the venue itself. Queens Sports Club will host back-to-back fixtures in a test of the ground staffs ability to turn around quickly. The outfield, which was sluggish for the first Test, would have been trimmed and may be a little quicker while the pitch itself is expected to be slow, low and flat. With school holidays and a long weekend, crowd numbers could be higher, especially as Bulawayo does not know when it will see Test cricket again.Form guideZimbabwe LLLLL (last five matches, most recent first)New Zealand WLLWWIn the spotlightAfter crashing to 36 for 4 and 17 for 4 in the first Test Zimbabwes top order will want to give their team a better start. Their ability to cope with a swinging new ball and a hostile short ball will be under particular scrutiny after Tim Southee and Neil Wagner used those tactics to run through them. In the absence of Masakadza, the responsibility will fall on Tino Mawoyo and Chamu Chibhabha.Apart from Trent Boult bowling below pace, the only aspect of New Zealands game that they may want to work on from the first Test is their spinners. While Mitchell Santner was economical, Ish Sodhi was expensive and with long spells likely to be needed on a flat ttrack, he will need to tighten up and try to stifle Zimbabwes batsmen a little more.ddddddddddddTeam newsThe biggest blow to Zimbabwe is Hamilton Masakadzas injury. Opener Tino Mawoyo has recovered from a hand injury to take his place at the top of the order alongside Chamu Chibhabha. Peter Moor is in line for a Test debut in place of Regis Chakabva who battled tonsillitis during the first Test. Although Chris Mpofu looks fit and firing, Donald Tiripano and Mike Chinouya are likely to keep their places with John Nyumbu coming in as a second specialist spinner.Zimbabwe: (probable) 1 Tino Mawoyo, 2 Chamu Chibhabha, 3 Sikandar Raza, 4 Craig Ervine, 5 Prince Masvaure, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Peter Moore (wk), 8 Graeme Cremer, (capt) 9 Donald Tiripano, 10 John Nyumbu, 11 Mike ChinouyaNew Zealand confirmed the same XI for the second Test which means no experiments to play Jeet Raval, Doug Bracewell or Matt Henry before they head to South Africa.New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Henry Nicholls, 5 Ross Taylor, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Neil WagnerPitch and conditionsWhile Neil Wagner extracted a surprising amount of bounce from the surface for the first match, this one is expected to offer nothing of the sort. The teams are likely to face a hard, flat strip, which will keep run-scoring slow and make wicket-taking difficult. The fielders will not be able to enjoy any respite from the weather either. Temperatures will remain in the mid-to-high 20s and the skies will be cloudless.Stats and triviaKane Williamson and Tim Southee will be playing their 50th Tests individuallyFive years ago this week, Zimbabwe returned to Test cricket after a six-year self-imposed exile and won their comeback Test against Bangladesh. Craig Ervine and Tino Mawoyo are the only players who took part in that match who may be involved in this oneQuotesWe spent a day at Heath Steaks farm. We managed to get out of the hotel which is good. It was awesome to get out and see a bit of Zimbabwe. We saw a pretty cool sunset and got some relaxing time before a pretty big five days ahead.BJ Watling spills the beans on how the team utilised their free time.The good thing is that we have had one game already. The guys have had a good look at how they got out. The guys have done some work. Theres a little bit more grit needed, a little bit more application and time to suss out conditions.Tino Mawoyo is clear about the situation his team is in. ' ' '