Despite poor weather forecasts that call for rain and storms for much of the afternoon and evening, both the Cardinals and Giants are taking batting practice on the field at Busch Stadium and planning to start at the scheduled 3:07 pm first pitch.
The Cardinals and Giants have both been in contact with representatives from Major League Baseball about the possibility of rain causing problems, particularly if the game is started on time and then if rain arrives a short time later.
"At this point we'll take it one step at a time," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "As we get close to the game we'll look at the situation and we'll get the umpires, both managers, GM's and we'll talk about if we should start the game or not.
"I think it's fair to say we don't want to start this game if it looks like rain is coming in an inning or two and have to change starters. So at this point we'll just wait and see where we're at as we get closer to game time."
Weather.com calls for, "widespread showers and thunderstorms developing by 3pm," while local forecasts are saying a line of showers and thunderstorms could move through the St. Louis area anywhere between 3-7 pm.
"That's part of being in the Midwest," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. "We get this quite a bit. We understand that these guys do a good job of forecasting, but you never know for sure.
"The guys are coming in and getting prepared for the game and we'll make adjustments as they come. Right now there's obviously some weather in the forecast, but we'll just wait and see. We know it's in the hands of the Commissioner's office and see what they decide to do with it. We're always thinking about possibilities, but right now not going too far down the road."
On possibly postponing the game and having to make it up on Saturday's
currently scheduled travel day, Matheny said, "They'd like to get the
game in (today). If you push this back until Saturday, then you've got
quite a few different issues that seem to get pretty complex."
Asked about the potential of not starting ace Matt Cain if it looks like rain could be coming early in the game, Bochy said, "No, I can't see that being a possibility. I've been caught before where you try to predict what's going to happen with the rain and started - just a couple years ago, I started a pitcher thinking the same thing and it didn't rain for four or five innings, then I put my starter in and then it started raining. So it came back to bite me there.
"It's a tough call. It's nature and it's unpredictable to what's going to happen. Matt Cain will start the game if we start this game."
