For the first time this season, Matt Carpenter hit second Friday and, as he did last week in Cincinnati, Jose Martinez hit third, Matheny, asked if he might stay with Friday’s 1-2-3 concept, said, “We’ll see. I don’t think we ever write off any possibility as far as the lineup goes. Tommy’s been taking great at-bats and we’ll see how often we can get him up there.”
Second baseman Kolten Wong, a lefthanded batter, didn’t start last week against Finnegan and didn’t start Friday, either. But neither did Greg Garcia, who hit two home runs off Finnegan in consecutive at-bats last Saturday.