SAN FRANCISCO -- Yadier Molina's left hand may not be injured as severely as the team feared when the catcher was hit by a pitch late in Thursday's loss at Arizona.

"It doesn't feel bad right now," Molina said Friday. "I'll miss a couple of days, five, six, a week, maybe."

St. Louis manager Tony La Russa sounded even more optimistic that Molina will recover quickly from the hairline fracture of his fifth metacarpal.

"Barry [Weinberg, the Cardinals trainer] is encouraged," La Russa said, adding Molina may be ready to return when the Cardinals resume play next Friday after the All-Star break, "and there's an outside chance by Sunday he'll be ready."

Nevertheless, St. Louis added some depth at catcher Friday by calling up Mike Mahoney from Triple-A Memphis. Mahoney was called up for four days in May this season and caught just one inning in that Major League stint.

In 64 games with Memphis this season, Mahoney hit .255 with five homers and 23 RBIs.

To make room for Mahoney, infielder Hector Luna (.200, zero homers, one RBI) was optioned to Memphis.

Showing love for the Gold Glove: Before Friday's series opener, La Russa presented Mike Matheny with the Gold Glove Award that Matheny earned last year while with St. Louis.

Many of the Cardinals players joined La Russa in the home plate ceremony, happy to congratulate their former teammate who signed a free-agent contract with San Francisco after five seasons in St. Louis.

Matheny said he keeps in touch with many of his former Cardinals mates, but none of them could be happier to see the current Giants catcher than Molina.

"He tried to help me a lot, as much as he could," Molina said. "He taught me more than I can say.

"He was awesome. He's a great teammate, a great guy, and I've got a lot of respect for him."

Molina even said Matheny "is like a big brother to me."

Molina was reminded he already has two big brothers -- the Angels' Benjie and Jose -- catching in the Majors.

"They are on the West Coast and I'm in the Midwest, so last year on this team, Matheny was my brother," Molina said. "He taught me how to play the game."

Matheny speaks just as highly of Molina.

"As soon as I met him, he was extremely open to learning and wanted to ask me questions," Matheny said. "I think some of it may be to humor me because he's got two older brothers that know exactly what they're doing and do it well.

"He was so respectful and always willing to work and wanted to listen. It didn't take a genius to see his physical ability."

Matheny said he thinks of Molina as a little brother, and watches his former pupil play as often as possible.

"I really do get excited for him when he does well," Matheny said. "I was really wanting to give him a call early on when he was struggling a little bit offensively, but those are things for someone else to do."

Short hops: The Cardinals expect to activate left-hander Randy Flores on Saturday, the first day he's eligible to return from the DL after being placed there June 23 with a torn callous on his left foot. ... La Russa said the Cardinals after the All-Star Game will have an optional workout Wednesday in St. Louis, and a Thursday workout that will be optional for everyone but the St. Louis position players returning from the All-Star Game in Detroit.

Looking ahead: Matt Morris (10-1, 3.17 ERA) will put his NL-best .909 winning percentage on the line Saturday in the second game of the series here.

The Giants are expected to counter with Brad Hennessey (2-2, 6.75), but had not recalled the young right-hander from Triple-A Fresno before Friday's game.