Kelly to start Game 3; Wainwright option for Game 4

BOSTON -- As expected, the Cardinals will start Joe Kelly against the Red Sox in Game 3 of the World Series, which will be played at Busch Stadium on Saturday (6:30 p.m. CT air time on FOX, 7:07 first pitch).

Kelly will be plenty rested, having last pitched on Oct. 16. He lost to the Dodgers in that National League Championship Series start, missing out on the opportunity to end the series in Los Angeles. The Dodgers tagged Kelly for four earned runs on seven hits over five innings in that game.

The Cardinals are remaining flexible with their Game 4 plans and have not ruled out the possibility of bringing Game 1 starter Adam Wainwright back on three days of rest. Manager Mike Matheny chose to have Wainwright go five innings in Wednesday's game even though the right-hander was knocked around for five runs before recording his sixth out. Still, Matheny indicated that Wainwright's final pitch count of 95 would not preclude him from coming back earlier than initially expected.

Wainwright has never before made a start on less than four days' rest.

If the Cardinals choose to instead hold Wainwright until Game 5, they would turn to right-hander Lance Lynn for the Game 4 start against Boston on Sunday. Lynn started one game in each of the first two rounds of the postseason.