Lynn to start Wednesday against Rays

ST. LOUIS -- Following Sunday night's 4-3 loss to the Dodgers, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny confirmed that the club will start Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn, in that order, during the team's upcoming series against the Rays.

Matheny had been mum about the team's pitching plans pregame, wanting to first see whether Shelby Miller would get used out of the bullpen in the series finale. He did, throwing 17 pitches in the appearance and thereby finalizing the Cardinals' decision to turn to Lynn on Wednesday.

The Cardinals have the flexibility to stick with a four-man rotation through the end of the month because of the high concentration of off-days. Lynn, who started the Cardinals' first game of the second half, will be pitching on his normal four days' rest.

Miller was slated to throw on Sunday as the Cardinals were prepared to have him throw a bullpen session if he wasn't used in the game. That was to protect against too long of a period of inactivity. As it was, Miller got his work in during the game, allowing two hits and a walk while facing five batters in his first relief appearance of the season.

"We're trying not to throw him out there for a lot of pitches on a consistent basis," Matheny said. "We want to get him strong and feeling good again. We need him. We're going to need him. This was in place of a bullpen today, but we needed it."