ST. LOUIS (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks will miss the rest of the season because of a tear in his left wrist, a severe setback for the NL Central leaders.

Weeks hurt himself while striking out Sunday in St. Louis. He had an MRI exam Monday in Arizona, and it revealed the injury.

The oft-injured Weeks was hitting .272 with nine home runs and 24 RBIs. The Brewers reached the playoffs last year as the wild-card team.

The Brewers said Weeks had a torn sheath in his left wrist and will likely have surgery this week. Recovery time is four to six months.

“Rickie was making progress. He was showing he could be the kind of player we all thought he could be,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said before Monday night’s game at St. Louis.

“You feel bad for the team, but you feel bad for Rickie, too,” he said. “He put so much work into it.”

Melvin said Craig Counsell will fill in at second base for Weeks for the time being.

Melvin noted Weeks was on a pace to score 100 runs and have 100 RBIs this year. Weeks was the overall No. 2 pick in the 2003 draft.

Weeks was hurt on his final swing in the first inning. “I just felt a little pressure, a little tug on it,” he said after the 8-2 win over the Cardinals.

Weeks missed the last two months of the 2006 season after undergoing surgery for a tendon injury to his right wrist. He was examined by Dr. Don Sheridan, who performed that operation as well as one on his left thumb in 2005.