By Chris Brown | @cbrown398 – STL Baseball Today

Update 9/3: Just nine hours after being recalled to provide insurance for Wednesday starter Tyler Lyons, the Cardinals optioned LHP Nick Greenwood to AAA Memphis after last night’s game

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The much anticipated Max Scherzer – Michael Wacha matchup will have to wait for another day, as news broke Wednesday afternoon that Wacha had been scratched from his scheduled start Wednesday night against the Nationals in favor of lefty Tyler Lyons.

Lyons was one of three pitchers recalled from AAA Memphis prior to the team’s 7:15 pm start against the Nationals, along with left-hander Nick Greenwood and righty Miguel Socolovich. After getting knocked around for four runs on seven hits over 2 2/3 innings during a spot start Tuesday night, left-hander Marco Gonzales was optioned back to Memphis. Read all about Wednesday’s transactions here.

Manager Mike Matheny told reporters at Busch Stadium Wednesday afternoon that the decision to scratch Wacha was dictated only by wanting to get him some rest and limit his innings, and the young starter is not dealing with any injury. “We hope it pays off down the road,” he told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

The Cardinals skipper also announced the rotation for this weekend’s series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Carlos Martinez, who didn’t make his scheduled start Tuesday night due to a combination of a minor back injury and the want to give him a breather, will start on Friday night. He’ll be followed by Jaime Garcia on Saturday and John Lackey on Sunday.

Lance Lynn, who rolled his right ankle in his last start Saturday against the Giants, will not start this weekend, but Matheny said the 28-year-old is doing okay. He’ll likely return to the rotation some time early next week.

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