Cardinals vs. Marlins: How to Watch Tonight in the Rain — and the Time These Two Cleared the Benches in Miami

Rain washed out the Cardinals’ series finale against Arizona on Thursday, and more clouds hang over Busch Stadium tonight as the Miami Marlins come to town. First pitch is set for 8:15 PM ET — and if the sky cooperates, a Cardinals rotation scrambled by the weather finally hands Michael McGreevy the ball.

How to Watch: Marlins vs. Cardinals

• First pitch: 8:15 PM ET, Friday, June 26
• Ballpark: Busch Stadium, St. Louis
• TV: Cardinals.TV presented by bet365 & KMOV-4 (St. Louis) | Marlins.TV (Miami)
• Radio: KMOX 1120 AM/104.1 FM & WIJR 880 AM (En Español); Marlins on 560 AM WQAM & WAQI 710
• Pitching matchup: Max Meyer (MIA, 8-0, 2.80) vs. Michael McGreevy (STL, 3-6, 3.35)
• Weather watch: Cloudy with scattered rain chances in the 20% range, falling through the evening — the tarp should stay rolled, but keep an eye on the sky

Max Meyer arrives undefeated, an 8-0 record with a 2.80 ERA and 102 strikeouts — Miami’s most reliable arm. McGreevy, bumped a day by Thursday’s washout, counters for a Cardinals club holding a slim NL Wild Card cushion. And a footnote in geography: these two clubs share a spring home at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida, so they know each other well before the lights ever come on.

While You Wait Out the Forecast: A Game You Forgot

If the rain does come, here’s a Cardinals-Marlins game from 1994 you might not remember — one that proves these two have played through far worse than a drizzle.

It was May 22, 1994, a Sunday at Joe Robbie Stadium. The Cardinals had won four straight, including the first two games of this series. What unraveled in the bottom of the second turned into one of the ugliest — and strangest — afternoons of the decade.

Three Homers, One Punch

Cardinals lefty Allen Watson, a struggling 23-year-old former first-round pick, served up a two-run homer to a young Carl Everett — the first of Everett’s career — then back-to-back blasts to Rich Renteria and Jeff Conine. Three home runs in a single inning, all to deep left, a Marlins club record. Florida led 7-2, and Watson lost the plot.

He drilled Marlins slugger Orestes Destrade in the back. Destrade — born in Cuba, raised in Miami, and fresh off four years starring in Japan before coming home to the expansion Marlins — charged the mound. Watson flung his glove, catching Destrade in the face and knocking off his glasses. The benches emptied; four players were ejected. An inning later, a fan dumped a beer on Cardinals reliever Rich Rodriguez, who’d been released by Florida that spring. Rodriguez threw his glove into the stands. Someone threw it back.

Now Here’s the Truth

The Marlins should have won. They led 9-6 in the ninth, two outs, nobody on. Then it collapsed: Jose Oquendo walked and took second on a wild pitch, pinch-hitter Mark Whiten doubled him home, Ray Lankford singled Whiten in, Luis Alicea singled for his fifth hit of the day, and Gregg Jefferies — playing through a bad thumb — sliced a two-run double down the right-field line. Five straight Cardinals reached with two outs, four runs scored, and St. Louis stole it 10-9 in front of a stunned crowd of 35,386.

“Guys were jumping around like we won a playoff game,” Jefferies said. Watson drew an eight-game suspension, Destrade four. The 1994 season would last only until August 11, when the strike shut everything down.

So they’ll play in the rain tonight. These two have played through far worse. “If you’ve got a sombrero, wear it.”

Sources: SABR Games Project | Baseball-Reference (box score)