ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen will be out 10-14 days with a sprained shoulder, ESPN's Karl Ravech reported.

St. Louis expects Rolen to be able to play in the World Series if the team makes it that far.

"He's out for this series,'' trainer Barry Weinberg said Friday. "His future status will be determined later.''

Manager Tony La Russa said Friday he didn't know when his third baseman would be available. The team released a brief statement that said a CT scan revealed a moderate shoulder sprain and an MRI revealed no additional injury.

The Cardinals led the best-of-five series 2-0. If St. Louis wins one of the next three games against the Diamondbacks, the Cardinals would advance to the NL championship series, which begins Wednesday.

"I just know that I don't think he'll play the rest of this series, and that's enough for now,'' La Russa said.

On Thursday, the team described the injury as a sprained shoulder. Rolen was hurt in a seventh-inning collision with Diamondbacks pinch-runner Alex Cintron.

La Russa said he wasn't sure what he would do in Game 3 Saturday, mentioning Albert Pujols and Miguel Cairo as possible replacements.

"I'll just look at the alternatives,'' La Russa said. "I don't want to announce what I'm going to do tomorrow because I don't know.''

Teammates were disappointed to lose Rolen, who helped the team win the NL Central after arriving in a trade-deadline deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.

"Anytime you take out a premier player in the middle of your lineup, it's going to hurt,'' pitcher Andy Benes said. "It's going to be an opportunity for somebody else to step up and maybe be a hero.''

Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said he could empathize with La Russa, having lost Luis Gonzalez with a separated shoulder the final week of the regular season.

"When you reach this level you want to compete against the best the other team has to offer, and you hope you have the best team you can put on the field,'' Brenly said. "As an opposing manager it didn't hurt as bad, but putting myself in Tony's shoes and what I've been through this year with injured players, I know exactly how much that hurts.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.