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A sprained ankle for their swiftest outfielder will challenge the Cardinals’ attempt this weekend to slow decisions about their active roster and buy time for Brendan Donovan to avoid the injured list.

Victor Scott II headed for exams of his left ankle late Saturday night after injuring the joint while chasing a home run by Aaron Judge — and nearly robbing it at the wall. Scott remained in the game for several innings after crashing to the ground before a twist out of the batter’s box forced him from the lineup and forced the Cardinals to confront their attempt to play several consecutive days with a short bench.

“If Vic can’t go, we have to do something,� manager Oliver Marmol said.

The Cardinals played the first two games of this visit from the New York Yankees with a de facto two-man bench due to Willson Contreras’ bruised foot and Donovan’s lingering toe and leg pain. Marmol said Contreras was expected to be ready and in the lineup Sunday for the series finale, though that turned out to not be the case. Less certain still is when the Cardinals can expect Donovan’s return, and if the pain lingers or they need a move to create time for Scott to recover, an IL stint helps reinforce the bench.

Late Saturday night in the Cardinals clubhouse, Donovan told the Post-Dispatch he’s felt better with three consecutive days of rest, and he would like to avoid the IL.

“I’d love to play in a couple of days,� Donovan said. “Obviously, it’s based off of what the team needs. I want to play. I don’t want to miss time. Unfortunately, this has been bugging me for a large portion of the season.�

The Cardinals are calculating between the mandatory absence of Donovan for what would be nine games against the benefit of having him available for four or five of those games.

Scott’s injury came in the midst of a 12-8 loss to the Yankees at Busch Stadium that featured a brief, fleeting moment when the undermanned Cardinals wrenched back a three-run lead for their No. 1 starter.

Sonny Gray struggled throughout most of his five innings and had difficulty getting a feel for his pitches, as did several other pitchers on the hot, soggy evening.

• Example 1: The decisive runs came in the sixth inning off Cardinals reliever Kyle Leahy, one of the most reliable arms out of the bullpen who allowed three runs, four hits and did not record an out.
• Example 2: Yankees starter Max Fried (13-5) allowed seven runs, one more than Gray, and was bounced from the game in the sixth after allowing a home run, and he still won.
• Example 3: The game had 10 extra-base hits, including six home runs by six different batters and three from each team.

The Yankees jumped Gray (11-6) for two runs in the first inning. But by the time Gray began the third inning, the Cardinals rallied to hold a 5-2 lead. Masyn Winn launched a cut fastball from the lefty Fried into the left field seats for a three-run homer that established the lead after Scott’s RBI single tied the game. Within two innings, Gray squandered the lead.

On his way to seven RBIs, Yankees first baseman Ben Rice crushed a three-run homer off Gray in the fourth inning to flip the game for good.

“I think it feels the same losing a three-run lead after you give up a run and then your offense comes back and now you’re winning, 5-2,� Gray said when asked about the offense being without Donovan and Contreras for a comeback. “I don’t think — no matter who is available or not available — that factors into anything at that point. That inning just really stunk.�

The Yankees’ rally against Gray began in the third inning with Judge’s leadoff home run. The reigning American League MVP had 353 homers in his career and not one against the Cardinals until connecting for a ball that traveled 396 feet at Busch.

The pocket of Scott’s glove was inches away from greeting it there.

The Cardinals center fielder dashed to the right-center field wall and timed his leap enough that the liner glanced off his glove and then caromed into the stands. Scott appeared to bang his knee against the wall and then landed hard on the warning track. He was met there by Marmol and a trainer. They put him through some stretches and a few sprints to see if he could continue playing. He did, and in the fifth inning raced deep into the left-center gap to steal extra bases from Ryan McMahon.

“That shows a lot about his grit,� Winn said. “It sucks to see him leave that game early, but I’m glad to see that from our guys.�

Said Marmol: “He’s going to give you his best effort every time. Look at our style of play. I feel like all of our guys do. He’s been much better with his jump, his overall routes. Add (his) top speed to that and you have a really good fielder. ... One of his last swings, when he was coming out of the box, (he felt pain in the) changing of direction there. Going and getting it in the outfield? Not so much. But the at-bat is what got him.�

Veteran utility fielder Garrett Hampson replaced Scott in center and left the Cardinals with one healthy hitter remaining on their bench.

Another injury or a longer game, and Marmol would have had to canvass the pitchers for pinch-hit options or fielders.

That is the cost of playing short.

It caught up with them on the scoreboard Friday night as they lost 4-3 to the Yankees and could not capitalize on their crisp play against the Yankees’ raggedness. It caught up with them on the roster Saturday and left them discussing that night how long they may have to go without Scott and Donovan — and how long they can go without making a move to alleviate some restrictions on strategy and add at least one available option to the big league bench.

“We’ll figure it out,� Marmol said.

Yankees 12, Cardinals 8

New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Grisham cf 5 4 4 0 1 1 .250

Rice 1b 5 2 3 7 1 1 .240

Judge dh 3 1 2 2 2 1 .333

Chisholm 2b 3 0 0 1 1 2 .238

Domínguez lf 5 0 2 1 0 2 .255

Volpe ss 5 0 0 0 0 3 .215

McMahon 3b 5 1 1 1 0 1 .250

Wells c 5 1 1 0 0 2 .206

Caballero rf 4 3 2 0 1 0 .357

Totals 40 12 15 12 6 13

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Winn ss 5 1 2 3 0 2 .267

Burleson 1b 5 1 3 0 0 1 .284

Herrera dh 5 0 1 1 0 1 .292

Nootbaar lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .228

Walker rf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .231

Gorman 3b 3 2 1 2 1 1 .227

Saggese 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .244

Pagés c 4 2 3 1 0 1 .226

Scott cf 2 1 1 1 0 0 .223

Hampson ph-cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .115

Pozo ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .261

Totals 38 8 12 8 1 12

New York 201 303 300 — 12 15 0

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ 140 002 001 — 8 12 0

LOB: New York 8, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ 4. 2B: Judge (25), Rice (21), Walker (11). 3B: Burleson (1). HR: Judge (39), off Gray; Rice (18), off Gray; McMahon (1), off Muñoz; Winn (9), off Fried; Gorman (11), off Fried; Pagés (9), off Leiter. RBIs: Judge 2 (91), Domínguez (39), Rice 7 (45), McMahon (7), Chisholm (55), Herrera (43), Scott (35), Winn 3 (46), Gorman 2 (36), Pagés (38). SB: Domínguez (20), Chisholm (19), Caballero 2 (5). CS: Domínguez (4). SF: Chisholm. DP: New York 1; ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ 1.

New York IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Fried, W, 13-5 5 8 7 7 1 6 3.26

Williams 1 0 0 0 0 3 5.36

De Los Santos 2 1 0 0 0 2 2.35

Leiter 2/3 3 1 1 0 1 4.19

Bednar, S, 3-5 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 2.16

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Gray, L, 11-6 5 9 6 6 2 7 4.30

Leahy 0 4 3 3 0 0 3.00

Muñoz 11/3 2 3 3 3 3 8.18

Granillo 22/3 0 0 0 1 3 4.02

Leahy pitched to 4 batters in the 6th

Inherited runners-scored: Bednar 2-0, Muñoz 1-0, Granillo 2-1. T: 3:27. Att.: 33,800.