<
>

Tim Hudson available for Braves

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Braves had 16 position players on their roster for Friday's wild-card game against the St. Louis Cardinals and kept three starting pitchers active.

Manager Fredi Gonzalez says he wants to have Tim Hudson and Mike Minor available for Friday's game against the Cardinals in case starter Kris Medlen has unexpected problems.

Right-hander Cristhian Martinez, who appeared in 54 games and often was effective in long relief, is not on the 25-man roster.

The Cardinals are carrying 10 pitchers, with Kyle Lohse starting.
Manager Mike Matheny has only one other starting pitcher, Lance Lynn, active for the game.

Joining Braves closer Craig Kimbrel in their bullpen are left-handers Luis Avilan and Eric O'Flaherty and right-handers Chad Durbin and Cory Gearrin.

Braves catcher David Ross is expected to start instead of Brian McCann, who has a sore shoulder and sore knee. A third catcher, J.C. Boscan, also is on the roster.

Winning teams in the wild-card games can reset their rosters for the division series.

The Braves' roster includes eight infielders and five outfielders.

The Cardinals are carrying three catchers, with Bryan Anderson and Tony Cruz available behind starter Yadier Molina.

Marc Rzepczynski and Sam Freeman are the only left-handers in the Cardinals' bullpen.

Matheny is sticking with second baseman Daniel Descalso and shortstop Pete Kozma as his starting middle-infield combination.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.