The Cardinals, 3-1 winners Monday, continue their road series against the Athletics in Oakland on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 8:40 p.m. Ƶ time.
Right-hander Lance Lynn (0-0, 2.63) will take the mound for the Cardinals. Lynn has pitched between four and five innings in each of his three starts. He permitted zero earned runs in two of them.
His fastball, one of baseball's worst last season, is one of the best this year. Batters are hitting .118 off the fastball this season, down from .255 last year.
The A's will send out left-hander JP Sears (1-1, 5.17).
Sears attended The Citadel, a university that hasn't produced many big leaguers. One of that school's most productive MLB alums is Tim Jones, a utility infielder who played his entire six-year MLB career with the Cardinals from 1988 to 1993.
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The game matches Sears, the pitcher who hit the most batters last season (16) with this season's co-leader in being hit by pitches, Cardinals leadoff man Brendan Donovan (five).
Monday night's series opener was played before an announced crowd of 5,508, the smallest crowd the Cardinals have played in front of since 2017, not including games played under pandemic crowd restrictions.
Oakland, in its last season in the Bay Area, will play next year in a Triple-A park in Sacramento for several seasons before moving to Las Vegas.
Nolan Arenado, who bats fourth Tuesday, is celebrating his 33rd birthday. He's 8-for-29 (.276) on games on April 16 with a home run at San Diego in 2019.
The Cardinals are 8-9, last in the NL Central and three games out of first. Ƶ has lost two straight series.
The A's are 7-10, third in the AL West. Oakland has won its last three series entering this one.
Lineups
CARDINALS
1. Brendan Donovan, 2B
2. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
3. Willson Contreras, C
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Iván Herrera, DH
6. Lars Nootbaar, LF
7. Masyn Winn, SS
8. Jordan Walker, RF
9. Michael Siani, CF
P: Lance Lynn, RHP
ATHLETICS
1. Abraham Toro, 3B
2. Zack Gelof, 2B
3. JJ Bleday, CF
4. Seth Brown, LF
5. Tyler Nevin, DH
6. Lawrence Butler, RF
7. Kyle McCann, C
8. Darell Hernaiz, SS
9. Ryan Noda, 1B
P: JP Sears, LHP
Injury report
Masyn Winn (lower back stiffness): Rookie shortstop has been dealing with back soreness similar to what he had in spring training. That prompted him to miss about a week of workouts. This time, he's played through the soreness. He has been getting scheduled days off, especially day games after night games like Sunday's game in Arizona, to rest the back. He said he's "feeling better," and his manager said he's "on the other side of it." Updated April 15
Tommy Edman (wrist surgery):On the 10-day IL, Edman will begin hitting off a tee back in Ƶ on Tuesday as part of his swing progression.Updated April 15
Matt Carpenter (oblique strain):Placed on the 10-day injured list, backdated to April 2 after feeling discomfort in his torso after he went through his pregame routine in the batting cage. On Monday, he hit soft toss and tee and the veteran hopes to advance to batting practice by the end of the series in Oakland. He will take a rehab assignment to get bulk at-bats.Updated April 15
Riley O'Brien (flexor tendon):Placed on the 15-day injured list on March 31 retroactive to March 29, O'Brien's right arm tightened up after his opening day appearance. The initial diagnosis is strain of the flexor tendon; scans showed no structural damage. He will play catch with three days.Updated April 15
Dylan Carlson (sprained shoulder): On 10-day IL, Carlson hit off a tee for the first time Monday back in Ƶ as he advances on a hitting program.Updated April 15
Keynan Middleton (forearm strain): On the 15-day IL, Middleton received a PRP injection to facilitate healing. He continued playing catch Monday and will slowly progress through a throwing program that could put him several weeks away from returning to the mound for any workouts that would be similar to a bullpen session.Updated April 15
Drew Rom (biceps tendinitis): On the 15-day IL, Rom experienced the soreness in his left arm shortly before the end of spring training. He’ll be on a throwing program to rebuild arm strength and ready for a likely assignment to Class AAA Memphis’ rotation.Updated April 8