Major League Baseball

Despite September woes, Mujica on Cardinals roster

Published Oct. 3, 2013 12:15 a.m. ET

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Edward Mujica is on the Cardinals' roster for the NL division series - even after losing his job as closer in mid-September.

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said Wednesday that Mujica's role would be ''right-handed reliever.'' Mujica likely made it at the expense of rookie lefty Sam Freeman.

Matheny also said there wouldn't be any lineup wrinkles for Game 1 on Thursday against Pittsburgh.

Rookie reliever Trevor Rosenthal took over as the closer for Mujica, who was among the league leaders with 37 saves but had two blown saves in the final month. Mujica, who began the year as a setup man, allowed 18 hits over 7 1-3 innings in September. In his final outing, he lasted one-third of an inning and gave up two runs on three hits - all for extra bases.

Matheny declined for the second straight day to announce a starting pitcher beyond Lance Lynn in Game 2, although he said rookies Shelby Miller and Michael Wacha would be available for bullpen duty behind ace Adam Wainwright in Game 1.

''The rotation, we're going to still sit tight a little bit,'' Matheny said. ''We'll make our adjustments as we go.''

Rookie second baseman Kolten Wong will be on the roster after batting .153 in 32 games with no RBIs. He had three singles in 26 at-bats during the final month. The 2011 first-round draft pick could be a starter next year with versatile Matt Carpenter moved to another spot.

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