CINCINNATI -- The start of Thursday's Reds game with the St. Louis Cardinals has been delayed. The game was scheduled to begin at 12:35 p.m. but a heavy storm system is currently in the Cincinnati area. The Reds are evaluating the forecast with the hopes of being able to play the game today.
The Reds are scheduled to start a three-game series in New York against the Mets on Friday, while St. Louis is traveling to Pittsburgh to play the Pirates in a three-game series that starts on Friday. Both teams could have weather issues over the weekend and would like to avoid having to play makeup games if possible.
Homer Bailey is scheduled to make his first start of the season for the Reds against Lance Lynn of the Cardinals. The teams have split the first two games of the series, each winning by 1-0 scores. Wednesday night's game was delayed by rain for two hours, 40 minutes and ended at 12:35 a.m. when Chris Heisey drove in the winning run for the Reds with a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth inning.
"We know it's going to be a wet day," said Reds manager Bryan Price during his pregame session with the media. "Now we just have to try to come to some conclusion on how long we want to wait for an opportunity to play."
Price said if the game is postponed that the Reds would simply push back their starting rotation spots by one day. Mike Leake is scheduled to pitch the opener against the Mets on Friday, with Johnny Cueto set to pitch on Saturday and Alfredo Simon on Sunday.
St. Louis will return to Cincinnati two more times this season; they will play a three-game weekend series May 23-25 and a four-game series is scheduled for Sept. 8-11. All three games in the May series are scheduled night games.
