St. Louis Cardinals @ Washington Nationals game thread - Game 12 - April 21, 2015

The St. Louis Cardinals travel to Washington D.C. to take on the Nationals. The contest will be the Cardinals first in a stretch of schedule that has them slated to play 20 games in 20 days. After the off-day-filled opening weeks of the season, the brutal regular-season grind truly commences today.

The commencement of a veritable three-week gauntlet is probably one of the reasons the Cardinals replaced Peter Bourjos (who is on paternity leave) with righthanded reliever Mitch Harris on the active 25-man roster. The move leaves the Cardinals with three full-time outfielders on the active roster: Jon Jay, Matt Holliday, and Jason Heyward. In a pinch Mark Reynolds, Pete Kozma, or Dean Anna could take to the outfield. What's the plan in center specifically until Bourjos returns to the team in a few days? St. Louis Post-Dispatch scribe Derrick Goold has the answer on Twitter:

Brace yourself Beltway. #Cardinals back up for CF with Bourjos and Grichuk not on the active roster is ... Kozma. (Also: Heyward) #stlcards

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) April 21, 2015

Also, for those who are able to watch the game on MLB Network, tonight's game will be featured as the premiere of the Statcast broadcast:

Before 7ET @MLBNetwork debut, Tom Verducci explains what #statcast data means: http://t.co/S70JnD4nUD #AskStatcast pic.twitter.com/9pKEaJz09H

— MLB (@MLB) April 21, 2015

According to cardinals.com, the St. Louis lineup:

1. Matt Carpenter, 3B
2. Jason Heyward, RF
3. Matt Holliday, LF
4. Jhonny Peralta, SS
5. Mark Reynolds, 1B
6. Jon Jay, CF
7. Yadier Molina, C
8. Kolten Wong, 2B
9. Lance Lynn, P