ST. LOUIS -- A line of severe storms that was forecast to drop multiple inches of rain on the St. Louis area this weekend prompted the Cardinals to postpone their game against the Reds on Saturday before opening the Busch Stadium gates.
"I don't know if we've had many days like this where it was flat-out not going to happen," said manager Mike Matheny. "Two days ago they were talking about [this storm]. I think we knew it had the potential."
A makeup date for the game has not yet been determined. The Reds do return to St. Louis for a three-game series in September, and both teams have an off-day on the Monday before it starts, so that could be one possibility.
Fans with tickets to Saturday's game can use them for the rescheduled game. The Matt Carpenter-Carlos Martinez bobblehead will be distributed at that time as well.
Mike Leake and Bronson Arroyo, the two scheduled starters for Saturday, will now oppose each other in Sunday's series finale.
The rainout did clear up the Cardinals' pitching plans, as they were preparing to use spot starter Tyler Lyons on Monday to compensate for Thursday's doubleheader. Now, Michael Wacha will start Monday's series opener against the Brewers. He'll be followed, in order, by Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn in that series.
The rainout was the third already this season at Busch Stadium, though the other two games have already been made up. The Cardinals are hopeful that they can avoid another postponement on Sunday.
"I imagine we'll sit here until the sun comes up the next day," Matheny said. "We have to play."