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Joc Pederson sits as expected one night after suffering a stiff neck among other things in a violent collision with Yasiel Puig and the right field wall. That opens up the opportunity for Chris Taylor to make his first career outfield start.
Taylor starts in center field in place of Pederson on Wednesday, one day after manager Dave Roberts said that Taylor was close to adding outfield to his utility belt.
Starting lineups
| Pos | Cardinals | Pos | Dodgers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Cardinals | Pos | Dodgers |
| CF | Fowler (S) | 3B | Forsythe |
| RF | Piscotty | SS | Seager (L) |
| 1B | Carpenter (L) | C | Grandal (S) |
| 3B | Gyorko | LF | Bellinger (L) |
| C | Molina | 1B | Gonzalez (L) |
| SS | Diaz | CF | Taylor |
| LF | Grichuk | 2B | Utley (L) |
| 2B | Wong (L) | RF | Puig |
| P | Leake | P | Hill (L) |
“We’re past the point of just an emergency situation. I keep my eye on him out there. He’s working hard out there to get reads,” Roberts said Tuesday. “He’s getting more comfortable. The training wheels are coming off, so we’ll probably see him out there shortly.”
Shortly indeed.
Taylor started playing some outfield during spring training, and made three starts in center field for Triple-A Oklahoma City. But Wednesday will mark his first major league experience at any outfield position.
Yasiel Puig, who suffered sore ribs in the 10th-inning collision with Pederson, is back in the lineup on Wednesday. He remained in the game on Tuesday night as well.
“Once he said he could come back in and play, and I got verification from the training staff, I didn’t want to ask too many more questions,” Roberts said Tuesday.