St. Louis Cardinals @ Washington Nationals - Game 14 Thread - April 23, 2015

We have found the formula for a Tony Cruz start: A day game after a night game which followed an extra-inning game the night before. Kolten Wong, who had himself quite the performance last night, moves up to the six spot in the lineup. Fun fact: Max Scherzer is a St. Louis native and has his number retired on the outfield fence at Parkway Central high school. I cannot make this stuff up, folks.

Scherzer's fastball velocity continues its downward trend (see above) and is averaging 93.44 MPH this season, the lowest of his career to date. Here's how the Cardinals have performed against fastballs 93+ MPH or greater in their respective careers (per BaseballSavant):

Cardinals lineup (per Twitter):

1. Matt Carpenter (3B)
2. Jason Heyward (RF)
3. Matt Holliday (LF)
4. Matt Adams (1B)
5. Jhonny Peralta (SS)
6. Kolten Wong (2B)
7. Jon Jay (CF)
8. Tony Cruz (C)
9. Michael Wacha (P)

It is a beautiful day for afternoon baseball.