The Springfield Cardinals will in fact stick to a 2:10 p.m. start today.
Several hours ago, that was in doubt.
An overnight thunderstorm that blew across downtown Springfield apparently ripped off the protective tarp from the Hammons Field infield following Saturday night’s game between the Cardinals and San Antonio Missions.
The storm dumped a heavy amount of rain, making a muddy mess of the dirt in the infield, especially around the third-base bag.
“We’ll play,” Springfield general manager Matt Gifford said.
But the situation was worrisome enough that Cardinals manager Pop Warner, pitching coordinator Dyar Miller and Gifford walked through the dirt infield over a half-hour stretch and, with their shoes, tested the ground’s stiffness.
Head grounds keeper Brock Phipps and his crew are still working the field an hour out from first pitch.
The third-base area still looks pretty rough, but four grounds crew workers are using rakes to smooth it out.
With that, lineups are out. Take notice of the leadoff spot. Hot-hitting Tommy Pham, with seven hits in his past two games, is penciled back atop the order, with 40-man roster member Daryl Jones — after not starting the past two games — down in the No. 6 spot, and playing left field.
San Antonio Missions
Blake Tekotte CF
Lance Zawadki SS
Logan Forsythe 2B
Matt Clark 1B
James Darnell 3B
Sawyer Carroll RF
Michael Collins C
Quintin Berry LF
Erik Davis P
Springfield
Tommy Pham CF
Pete Kozma SS
Matt Carpenter 3B
Xavier Scruggs 1B
Chris Swauger RF
Daryl Jones LF
Jose Garcia 2B
Charlie Cutler C
Arquimedes Nieto P