A rainy Tuesday night in St. Louis gave Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia another day to recover from overheating Monday night.
Meanwhile, the Tuesday postponement gave St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado more time to treat his left forearm irritation and his right elbow contusion.
The Braves and Cardinals will return to action with a split doubleheader on Wednesday.
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker called on Zack Short to replace Arcia on Monday night, and Short would have started at shortstop on Tuesday, too.
“You have to stay locked in no matter what,” Short told Bally Sports. “I haven’t played (much) in the last month, but I’ve been pretty locked in every day because you don’t know what can happen. Not everybody is going to stay healthy or feel great for 162 games. You don’t know when you’re going to get thrown into the fire.”
Arenado was hit on the right elbow by a pitch on June 19. After missing one game, he returned Saturday — only to exit early with the forearm issue that knocked him out of the next two games.
“I’ve been dealing with it for a little while, about a week or two,” Arenado said. “Just a little bit of tendinitis in the left forearm, got an injection, it’s feeling a lot better. Obviously I got hit in the right elbow, I’ve been dealing with that also.
“Hitting, my left forearm bothers me a little bit, but then throwing, my right elbow hurts. Just kind of grinding it out. … I don’t how many games we have left until the (All-Star) break, but I’m just going to try to do my best till the end of the (first half) and then, hopefully, get a break and regroup and get ready for the second half.”
The Cardinals, who have won four consecutive games, could have key veterans Willson Contreras, Paul Goldschmidt and Arenado in the lineup at the same time for the first time since May 7.
St. Louis will start Kyle Gibson (5-2, 3.44 ERA) in the first game on Wednesday. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was undecided on his Game 2 starter.
Andre Pallante (3-3, 5.23 ERA) had originally been scheduled to start Wednesday, but pushing him back a day could keep the other starters on regular rest until the All-Star break.
Gibson is returning to the rotation after missing one start due to back stiffness. In his latest outing, he blanked the Chicago Cubs for seven innings on two hits during a 3-0 victory on June 14.
He is 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA on five career starts against the Braves.
The Cardinals could recall a pitcher from Memphis to start Game 2 if Pallante doesn’t get the call, or they could stage a bullpen start.
The Braves, who have won eight of their last 11 games, will start Reynaldo Lopez (5-2, 1.57 ERA) in the early game and Bryce Elder (1-2, 6.46) in the nightcap. Elder will come from Triple-A Gwinnett for the game.
That promotion will allow the team to push back left-hander Chris Sale (10-2, 2.91) a day for extra rest.
Lopez has allowed two runs or fewer in all but one of his 13 starts this season. He has only faced the Cardinals once, a scoreless one-inning relief appearance on July 8, 2023.
Elder is 5-2 with a 3.86 ERA in eight starts for Gwinnett. His last start for Atlanta came on May 19, when he allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits in three-plus innings during a 9-1 loss to the San Diego Padres.
He won his only career start against the Cardinals, throwing six shutout innings on April 5, 2023.
–Field Level Media
