The Cardinals cannot, per MLB rules, get rid of their entire lineup and hire, say, the Boston Red Sox hitters for tonight’s game, even if they wanted to. And given how the last two games have gone, they probably want to. Heck, maybe they’re even regretting that 13-spot they put on the Braves in Game 5 of the NLDS because it used up all their runs for the month or something. No idea.
I do know, though, that they have shaken things up a bit for this evening’s game, putting in José Martínez -- who has two pinch-hits in this series -- moving Tommy Edman to third and benching Matt Carpenter:
1. Dexter Fowler (S) CF
2. Kolten Wong (L) 2B
3. Paul Goldschmidt (R) 1B
4. Marcell Ozuna (R) LF
5. Yadier Molina (R) C
6. José Martínez (R) RF
7. Tommy Edman (S) 3B
8. Paul DeJong (R) SS
9. Jack Flaherty (R) P
The Nats, meanwhile, go with this setup. Which, for the first time since Game 2 of the NLDS, includes Víctor Robles:
1. Trea Turner (R) SS
2. Adam Eaton (L) RF
3. Anthony Rendon (R) 3B
4. Juan Soto (L) LF
5. Howie Kendrick (R) 2B
6. Ryan Zimmerman (R) 1B
7. Kurt Suzuki (R) C
8. Víctor Robles (R) CF
9. Stephen Strasburg (R) P
Game time is 7:38 this evening.