Orioles vs. Cardinals game Tuesday suspended in sixth inning, to resume Wednesday

ST. LOUIS — The Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals suspended their game Tuesday night after a rainstorm rolled over Busch Stadium ahead of the bottom of the sixth inning. They plan to resume the contest, which was tied 1-1 when the grounds crew rolled out the tarp, at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday and play their series finale 30 minutes after.

Baltimore tied the score on an RBI double by Jorge Mateo in the top of the fifth, drawing even just in time for the game to be considered official. Kyle Bradish went five innings and was on his way back to the mound for the sixth when the game was officially delayed at 9:09 p.m. A thunderstorm erupted a few minutes later and steady rain followed for about an hour and a half before the Cardinals announced the game would be suspended. The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch in the St. Louis area for the entire evening.

The Orioles (29-16) struggled to solve Cardinals starter Lance Lynn, mustering only two hits against the veteran right-hander over six innings. Bradish was on his way to matching him, with the lone run against him coming on an RBI double by Nolan Gorman in the second. Bradish needed just 74 pitches to get through five frames, but he has yet to pitch into the sixth inning over his first four starts to begin the year after returning from a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

No. 5 hitter Colton Cowser will be due up first Wednesday for the Orioles, who have a decision to make regarding how they want to handle their pitching staff for 13 innings. Left-hander Cole Irvin made his last appearance Sunday when he pitched two innings out of the bullpen and right-hander Albert Suárez pitched one frame Monday. Both figure to be available for multiple innings if needed.

Left-hander John Means remains the Orioles’ probable pitcher for the subsequent series finale. He’s expected to face former Baltimore starter Kyle Gibson, who has a 4.09 ERA in nine starts this season.

At stake Wednesday is also the Orioles’ American League-record regular-season streak of avoiding sweeps, which sits third on MLB’s all-time list at 106 series. The Orioles, who began their streak in May 2022, only trail the 1906-1909 Chicago Cubs (115) and the 1942-44 Cardinals (124).

The Orioles entered Tuesday’s game with 11 hours and 37 minutes’ worth of rain delays this season, already more than half their entire total from 2023 of 20 hours and 53 minutes.