The Reds Game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday was postponed by persistent and heavy rain in Cincinnati, pushing the first meeting of 2026 between the National League Central rivals into a split doubleheader on Saturday. The makeup game was set for 1:10 p.m. ET, with the originally scheduled FOX game at 7:15 p.m. still on the board.
Cincinnati planned to send Chris Paddack to the mound for the afternoon game, then turn to Chase Petty for the nightcap after he rejoined the club from Triple-A Louisville. Petty had one MLB start before Saturday night and was 0-0 with a 4.76 ERA, making it only his second big-league start of 2026 after a spot assignment during the Reds’ injury stretch in late April and early May.
The twinbill landed on a busy roster day for Cincinnati, which also got Eugenio Suárez back from the injured list and placed Ke'Bryan Hayes on the 10-day injured list retroactive to May 21. Suárez had missed half of the club’s first 50 games because of a strained left oblique, and Hayes went out with a lumbar bulging disc.
Suárez’s return mattered because Cincinnati had been waiting for his bat since he last played on April 22. He was a late scratch before an April 24 game against the Detroit Tigers, and when he came back Friday he was hitting.231 with 21 hits and 11 RBIs. His presence gave the Reds another middle-of-the-order option at a time when the schedule had already tightened around the rainout.
Hayes’s absence carries a different kind of weight. Acquired by the Reds at the 2025 trade deadline, he has not matched his usual level this season, hitting.142 in 44 games against a career average of.247. Francona said the back issue had been building for some time and that the spasms were getting in the way of his play. Hayes will return to the club’s Player Development Complex in Goodyear, Arizona, to continue healing and work on hitting.
Francona said the club would have to be careful with Suárez after the layoff. “We're gonna have to pick our spots a little early. We don't want to run him into the ground,” he said, adding that Suárez had two rehab games and would likely play two out of three this weekend. He said the same balancing act would probably be necessary across the roster. On Hayes, Francona said he has always dealt with back issues, and that getting the spasms under control should help the team get the real version of him back.
The split doubleheader gave Cincinnati little room to ease back into the weekend. The Reds were 26-24 entering the day, the Cardinals 28-21, and the rainout turned a divisional series opener into a test of depth, timing and health before a ball was thrown.
