Youth movement on display when Cardinals host Athletics

As the St. Louis Cardinals head toward the final month of their transition year, their field staff will get ample opportunity to work with young veterans and prospects.

That opportunity will continue Monday afternoon when the Cardinals host the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series.

With third baseman Nolan Arenado (shoulder), second baseman Brendan Donovan (groin), outfielders Alec Burleson (wrist) and Victor Scott II (ankle) and catcher Yohel Pozo (concussion) on the injured list, infielders Thomas Saggese and Cesar Prieto, catcher Jimmy Crooks and outfielder Nathan Church are getting looks.

"Those are guys who can be part of our future," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.

Crooks got his first big league hit Sunday, a homer, as the Cardinals fell 7-4 at Cincinnati to remain 5 1/2 games out of the second National League wild-card slot. Crooks made his major league debut Friday as a defensive replacement.

"I thought he handled it really well," Marmol said. "And then good to see him hit the homer, stay on that pitch. Overall, even when he came into the game (Friday) -- that was a big part of the game -- he came in late and he kept his cool. He was under control and handled it perfectly."

Prieto beat out an infield single Sunday for his first big league hit. Church has driven home seven runs in 34 at-bats and Saggese is batting .273 with seven RBIs in August.

The Cardinals will open this series with Sonny Gray (12-7, 4.19 ERA), who is 2-2 with a 3.48 ERA in five August starts.

Gray is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 29 1/3 innings over six career starts against the Athletics, his original big league team. The right-hander struck out seven batters in seven innings in his last start, but he suffered a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates despite allowing just one earned run.

The Cardinals were expected to recall reliever Chris Roycroft for this series. They may recall an additional reliever if Riley O'Brien lands on the injured list with shoulder soreness.

The Athletics come to St. Louis after suffering a three-game sweep at home against the Texas Rangers. They had won seven of the nine prior games.

Rookie Luis Morales (2-0, 1.19) will start the series opener. Morales, 22, earned a 7-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers in his last start.

The right-hander struck out seven batters while holding the Tigers to two hits and two walks. In his last two starts, Morales has struck out 13 batters in 13 innings while yielding just one run on four hits and two walks.

"This kid continues to impress," Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. "He continues to get better and better. Give a lot of credit to our pitching coach Scott Emerson and our bullpen coach Dan Hubbs. They've been really working with this kid. He's relentless on just perfecting his mechanics."

Athletics slugger Nick Kurtz is questionable for this game after sitting out the last two games with a right oblique strain suffered Friday night. The first baseman underwent a MRI exam that came back clean.