ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals’ and Nationals' hopes of getting their second half off to a strong start will have to wait at least another day because of heavy rains Friday night at Busch Stadium.

Miles Mikolas pitched three scoreless innings, and Lars Nootbaar homered in the first inning to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead on the Nationals before heavy rains suspended the action.

The Cardinals and Nationals will make up the suspended game on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. CT as part of a split doubleheader. Saturday’s originally scheduled game will begin at 6:15 p.m. CT. Fan gates for the 1:15 p.m. game will open at 12:15 p.m., while gates for the night game will open at 4:15 p.m.

The Nationals lost one of their top performers, Jeimer Candelario, after just a half inning of their first game back from the All-Star break. The slugger, who came into the game with 13 home runs and 43 RBIs, suffered a bone bruise in his right thumb while striking out to end the top of the first inning.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said he had yet to decide who will start Saturday’s game, but this much is for certain: It won’t be Mikolas. The veteran right-hander needed just 34 pitches to retire nine straight batters on Friday night. The Cardinals will use the bullpen to cover the remaining innings of Saturday’s first game, Marmol said. Steven Matz, who only recently rejoined the starting rotation, will start Game 2 for the Cardinals.

“[Mikolas] looked good, and his [velocity] was up there with some 96s and 97s, and he looked pretty strong,” Marmol said. “I would have loved to have seen it longer, but unfortunately that’s not the case.”

As for the Nationals, Jake Irvin will start the night game, but they haven't announced who will be on the mound when they pick back up in the afternoon.

Marmol said that both teams will be granted a 27th rostered player for the second game of the doubleheader under MLB rules. Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner, who has been cleared for all baseball duties and can be activated off the injured list on Saturday, could be the Cardinals' 27th player.

Nootbaar, who turned his season around last year after working on his hitting throughout the All-Star break, opened his second half with his sixth home run of the season. He hit a 1-2 pitch from Trevor Williams the opposite way to left-center 404 feet for a home run.

Williams racked up five strikeouts in the game’s first two innings. He struck out the side -- Willson Contreras, Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman -- in the second inning. The game will resume on Saturday with Cardinals star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in the box and facing a 3-2 count with two outs in the bottom of the third inning.

The Cardinals announced that tickets for Friday night’s game will be valid for Saturday’s rescheduled game. Additional Cardinals ticket policy details are available online at cardinals.com/tickets.