Rain postpones Game 2 of series vs. Pirates

PITTSBURGH -- Having already endured a one-hour, 23-minute rain delay and with a steady line of storms expected to hover over Pittsburgh throughout the evening, the Cardinals-Pirates game at PNC Park was postponed Tuesday night. A makeup date was not immediately announced.

"They were talking after midnight," manager Mike Matheny said of the weather reports. "That didn't excite us a whole lot. We would have rolled either way. Not a big deal for us to be able to give our pitching another day. I'm sure they're saying the same thing over there."

The postponement erases all stats from a game the Pirates were leading, 4-2, through two innings. That means starter Jake Westbrook's ERA goes back down to 0.00, and outfielder Shane Robinson is still waiting to officially make his first start of the season. Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina each lost an RBI.

It also leaves Westbrook still one win away from reaching No. 100, a milestone he will try for next when he starts in Philadelphia on Sunday. Though Westbrook threw just 47 pitches Tuesday, Matheny said the Cardinals' rotation would most likely stay in its current order.

For Westbrook, the postponement was perhaps fortuitous. He entered the game having not allowed an earned run in 15 2/3 innings but gave up four (three earned) as the Pirates sent eight batters to the plate in the first. Pittsburgh knocked five straight singles; errors from Robinson and second baseman Matt Carpenter compounded the 32-pitch inning.

"I made some mistakes, and they capitalized on them," Westbrook said. "I missed a few spots. Usually I can get away with [mistakes], but tonight, that wasn't the case. [Four of the five hits] were all missed location and elevated balls that should be hit, and they did. It's just one of those things where I wasn't as sharp as I needed to be."

It was hardly the first time the Pirates had given Westbrook fits. He is 0-5 with a 5.86 ERA in nine games (five starts) at PNC Park. He has just one win at any venue in 13 games against Pittsburgh.

"I wish I could put my finger on it," Westbrook said. "That's up to me to try and figure out. It's not like we don't face these guys again. I have to do my work to figure out what I need to do to get these guys out and try to make some better pitches."

If the Cardinals' rotation does stay in order, Westbrook is in line to face the Pirates on April 27, during Pittsburgh's first 2013 visit to Busch Stadium.

Tuesday's postponed game is expected to be made up as part of a doubleheader during one of the Cardinals' other two trips to Pittsburgh. The Cardinals come back to town for a four-game series from July 29 to Aug. 1 and a three-game set beginning Aug. 30.