ST. LOUIS — Starting the day winners of four of their last five games, the Cardinals now sit just two games back of the Milwaukee Brewers for the division lead. They also begin the day on the outside looking in on the playoff hunt, half a game back from the Phillies. The Cardinals will send their ace to the mound looking for a series win against the Cubs.
After three days rest between the series in Washington, D.C. and with a lefty on the mound for the Cubs, Albert Pujols returns to the lineup for the Cardinals. Having a midseason resurgence at the plate, The Machine is still mashing lefties this season to the tune of a .339 batting average with an OPS of .931. He's slotted to hit sixth tonight.
With Pujols DH'ing, Nolan Gorman will get the day off. Manager Oli Marmol indicated before the game that he is not worried about a potential issue of finding spots in the middle of the diamond between Gorman, Paul DeJong and Tommy Edman.
With the return of Tyler O'Neill to the lineup, the Cardinals are as close to their opening day roster as they have been in some time. Only Lars Nootbar hitting ninth and playing right field stands as an alteration to the starting nine.
