Holliday returns to bat third against Mets; Garcia hopes to be back next week

The St. Louis Cardinals on Friday activated Matt Holliday from the 15-day disabled list.

He started in left field and batted third against the New York Mets in both teams’ first game back from the All-Star break.

Holliday has been on the disabled list since June with a right quadriceps strain. At the time, he ranked fourth in the National League with a .417 on-base percentage and was hitting .400 with runners in scoring position.

Holliday’s return restores some order to the Cardinals’ lineup, which hit just .242 with runners in scoring position in June. With Holliday back in the No. 3 spot, shortstop Jhonny Peralta returned to the cleanup spot, and Jason Heyward moved down to fifth.

Randal Grichuk, Holliday’s understudy in left field, will be free to play in center field, which has been manned primarily by Peter Bourjos.

In 52 games this season, Holliday is batting .303 with three home runs and 26 RBI. He was a fan vote to start Tuesday’s All-Star Game for the first time in his career and, while he appeared in uniform and suffered the boos of the Cincinnati crowd with his Cardinals teammates, he was not available to play due to the injury. It was his seventh All-Star selection overall.

He didn’t do much Friday against New York, going 0-3 with fly outs to left and second, and a sixth inning ground out. Bourjos pinch hit for Holliday in the eighth and doubled home Kolten Wong with what proved to be the winning run.

St. Louis optioned left-handed pitcher Nick Greenwood to triple-A Memphis to make room for Holliday on the roster.

Garcia hopeful

Jamie Garcia says he’s making progress since a groin strain and inflammation knocked him out of the starting rotation. He hopes to make his return next week.

“We’ll wait and see how he progresses,” said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. “Just talking with him briefly today, he’s pretty happy where things are.”

Garcia, who has yet to throw off the mound since sustaining the injury, will throw a live bullpen session Saturday.

In the meantime, Tim Cooney will make another story in Garcia’s place Sunday against the Mets. The rookie has made four starts and has yet to earn his first career decision. He has an ERA of 4.34 in 18.2 innings pitched.

Favorable schedule

The Cardinals open the season’s second half with a schedule their favors their bid to hold the top spot in the National League’s Central Division.

Save for a two-game series against the White Sox starting next Tuesday in Chicago, St. Louis will play 14 of its next 16 games at Busch Stadium. And six of its next eight series come against teams with losing records.

The schedule is not so kind to second-place Pittsburgh. The Pirates hit the road four times over the same span and will have to face three teams that lead their divisions (Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals), one team that places a close second (Minnesota Twins), and the third-place Chicago Cubs.

Saturday’s starters

John Lackey (7-5, 2.90) will be making his team-leading 19th start of the season. He has a 1.69 ERA over his last six starts and will be seeking a seventh straight quality outing. The last time he put together six consecutive quality starts was June 15 through July 12, 2013 as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

Saturday’s start will be the fourth of his career against the Mets. The best start among the previous three came on May 18 of this year, when he held New York to a single run on just three hits in a game the Cardinals ended up losing, 2-1, in 14 innings.

The Mets will start Bartolo Colon (9-7, 4.46), who has lost his last three decisions. New York is 0-4 in his last four starts. In seven career games versus St. Louis, all of which were starts, he is 4-1 with a 4.15 ERA. In his last start against the Cardinals this season, Colon lasted just 4.1 innings and allowed nine runs.

Full House

The 44,540 who attended Friday’s game accounted for the Cardinals’ 22nd sell out in 44 home games this season.

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Holliday returns to bat third against Mets; Garcia hopes to be back next week."