Scott Rolen showed he was healthy yesterday:

Rolen tested his surgically repaired left shoulder for 4 1/2 innings of a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He made contact in each of two hitless at-bats, cleanly fielded three defensive chances and tested himself by departing from what was intended to be a conservative script.

Diving after a second-inning smash by Dodgers designated hitter Andy LaRoche, Rolen landed heavily on the same shoulder that collided with Dodgers first baseman Hee Seop Choi last May 10.

"I thought about that dive a little bit," Rolen said. "I dove. I wasn't not going to dive, but normally you don't think about diving."

The smash got past for a double, but Rolen collected himself and stood without indicating any distress.

"I thought he was probably ahead for his first game," said manager Tony La Russa, who penned Rolen into the leadoff spot before reconsidering and batting him second behind David Eckstein.

That's good news for the Cardinals and their fans, although I'm sure they'd rather Scott saved his dives for games that mattered.

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