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Worth noting

• Daniel Descalso continued his move around the infield, starting at third base in place of Matt Carpenter on Monday. In the last three days (four games), Descalso has started at all four infield positions, becoming the first player in franchise history to start at all four spots in four consecutive games. The last Major League player to do so was Michael Young with the Rangers in August 2012.

• Manager Mike Matheny said he had been considering sitting Carpenter for several days and noted that he "almost had to drag him off the field yesterday." Though Carpenter reached base seven times in the last two games, Matheny sensed fatigue. Carpenter had started 133 of the team's first 136 games this season.

"There's nobody that works harder, plays harder, prepares better," Matheny said. "But he is human. He wears this stuff hard. Right now, he's grinding, but not to the point where they get where they can't do what they normally do. That's when we have to step in and make a change."

• With rosters expanding on Monday, the Cardinals activated infielder Mark Ellis from the 15-day disabled list. Ellis, however, has not been cleared to resume full baseball activities as he continues to recover from a left oblique strain.

• The Cardinals did not make any callups on Monday but do anticipate adding at least four players -- Tony Cruz, Nick Greenwood, Marco Gonzales and Tyler Lyons -- on Tuesday. Those four were not eligible to return until after Double-A Springfield finishes its season.

• Johnson City, a Cardinals Rookie-level affiliate, lost its opening game in a best-of-three semifinal series against Elizabethton (Twins), 7-6, in 13 innings on Sunday. Casey Grayson, the organization's 21st-round pick in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft, went 4-for-6.

• The Cardinals' two full-season Class A affiliates -- Palm Beach of the Florida State League and Peoria (Ill.) of the Midwest League -- were eliminated from their respective postseason races on Sunday.

Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com. Read her blog, By Gosh, It's Langosch, and follow her on Twitter @LangoschMLB.
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