In St. Louis on Friday night, the Yankees begin a three-game interleague series versus the .500 (61-61) St. Louis Cardinals, who were sellers at the MLB trade deadline.
And yet, the Cardinals begin the weekend on the fringe of an interesting NL wild card race, 3.5 games behind the Mets for the last NL wild card spot (the Cincinnati Reds are a half-game back).
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Meanwhile, the Yankees (64-57) are clinging to the last AL wild card spot, a half-game ahead of the surprisingly surging Cleveland Guardians.
Yankees’ right-hander Luis Gil is scheduled to make his third start this season, following a lengthy injury rehab for a lat strain.
Gil is coming off a 5.1-inning no-decision against Houston (2 ER, 7 K, 1 BB), an improvement over his initial outing at Miami, charged with five runs in 3.1 innings.
St. Louis will send right-hander Andrew Pallante (6-9, 4.95 ERA) to the mound, and he’s 1-5 with a 6.19 ERA over his last seven starts.
On Wednesday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone suggested that Giancarlo Stanton might start two games in the outfield during this series, with Aaron Judge still limited to DH duty, due to his recovery from a flexor strain.
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However, Stanton is not in the Yanks’ starting lineup Friday night, and Jasson Dominguez – who did not start any of the three recent games against Minnesota – is starting in left field.
Jose Caballero is making a rare start in right field, with Cody Bellinger starting at first base. Paul Goldschmidt is dealing with mild grade right knee strain, suffered during Tuesday’s game.
It’s possible that Judge might cleared to play the outfield as early as Tuesday, when the Yankees continue this road trip at Tampa against the Rays.
Yankees lineup vs Cardinals on Friday
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees lineup vs St. Louis Cardinals for Friday game