Padres-Cardinals postponed for Wednesday doubleheader
ST. LOUIS -- Once a heavy thunderstorm finally reached Busch Stadium, Tuesday night's scheduled game between the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals didn't stand a chance.
Delayed before the start, the game was finally called after a wait of an hour and 32 minutes due to rain, and it was rescheduled as the day portion of a day-night doubleheader Wednesday.
Carlos Martinez (8-6, 2.85 ERA) is expected to work the opener for St. Louis against Colin Rea (5-3, 4.95). In the nightcap, the Cardinals will pitch left-hander Jaime Garcia (6-6, 4.11) against Paul Clemens (1-0, 4.73).
The Cardinals (48-44) opted not to start the game as planned Tuesday when the storm was detected less than 30 minutes before the scheduled first pitch. Neither Martinez or Rea even started his warmups, and the field was covered shortly after the national anthem.
The first raindrop didn't fall until around 8:45 p.m. CDT, but before it did, the fans scurried for cover as they were encouraged to leave the seating area. The storm featured frequent claps of thunder, lightning and sheets of rain blowing from left to right.
With this being San Diego's only trip into St. Louis this year, a day-night doubleheader was the only option to make it up. The teams have no mutual off days for the season's remainder, and they already played their series in San Diego.
Martinez will be pitching on 11 days of rest, his last outing coming on July 9 in an 8-1 win at Milwaukee that saw him match a career high by fanning 11 in five innings. He is 0-1 with a 5.51 ERA in five career games against the Padres, two of them starts.
Rea will be facing the Cardinals for the third time in his short major league career, but the first time in St. Louis. Rea absorbed a 10-3 loss to them last August and got a no-decision on April 24 in an 8-5 loss. He hasn't pitched since a no-decision July 6 in Arizona, when he was hooked one out shy of a win in San Diego's 13-6 victory.
In the nightcap, Garcia will make his first start against the Padres since Sept. 10, 2012, when he ate an 11-3 loss. He wasn't involved in the decision Friday night in a 7-6 loss against the Miami Marlins, pitching 6 1/3 innings and allowing four runs.
Clemens will replace Wednesday night's scheduled starter, Andrew Cashner, who will be pushed back to Thursday night's series finale. Clemens, who was picked up off waivers from Miami on June 28, has no record and no ERA in three relief appearances with San Diego.
Had the game been played Tuesday, the Padres' lineup would not have included shortstop Alexei Ramirez. Manager Andy Green planned to give Ramirez a rest, and he intends to do the same with all of his regulars in upcoming games.
"It's going to be 100 degrees the next couple days here, 100 degrees and over every day in Washington, (10-day) road trip right after the All-Star break," Green said, according to MLB.com. "It's probably wise to try to find everybody a day down during that stretch to make sure we're not running everybody into the ground early in the second half."
The Cardinals will head into the doubleheader without third baseman Jhonny Peralta, who went on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday, retroactive to Monday, due to a strained ligament in his left thumb. Peralta left Sunday's game in the fifth inning after injuring himself while hitting.
"We were trying to be patient through this," St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said. "We were hoping giving it a couple days when we were back in Milwaukee, this would be something he could play through. He was just not feeling right, so ultimately we put him on the DL."
Peralta was replaced on the roster by outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker, who was recalled from Triple-A Memphis.
In other roster moves, the Cardinals recalled right-hander Miguel Socolovich from Memphis while designating catcher Michael McKenry for assignment.
