With a possible National League pennant on the line with a victory in Game 5, St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has posted this lineup (* indicates lefthanded hitter, # indicates switch-hitter), and Carlos Beltran is back in it, after having acupuncture treatments:

1. Jon Jay*, CF
2. Carlos Beltran#, RF
3. Matt Holliday, LF
4. Allen Craig, 1B
5. Yadier Molina, C
6. David Freese, 3B
7. Daniel Descalso*, 2B
8. Pete Kozma, SS
9. Lance Lynn, P

Barry Zito will be the opposing pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. It's Zito's first appearance in the NLCS; he started Game 4 of the division series against the Reds and got yanked before the third inning was over. His last appearance against the Cardinals was August 7 in St. Louis, where he threw 6⅔ innings and gave up two runs, which came on a pair of solo home runs by Craig. Overall, Craig is 4-for-10 against Zito with three homers. The rest of the players on St. Louis' active roster are hitting .283 (36-for-127) against Zito with two home runs, both by Holliday.