The St. Louis Cardinals were forced to wait a day before resuming their charge toward the NL Central title. The Redbirds and second-place Pirates were rained out Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, keeping the Cards’ magic number at two. The two teams will play a day-night doubleheader today, with the first game getting underway at 12:35. We’ll begin our coverage with the pre-game show at 11:40-a.m., here on KJAN.

The Cardinals will start Michael Wacha (17-6, 3.15 ERA) in the opener against Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole (18-8, 2.60). St. Louis will send Tyler Lyons (2-1, 3.96) in the second game against Charlie Morton (9-8, 4.54). The second game is slated to start at 6:05-p.m.  The Cardinals will take the division with a victory in either game.

St. Louis is expected to activate right-handed pitcher Adam Wainwright today. The three-time All-Star has been on the disabled list since April after tearing the Achilles tendon in his left leg.

Wisconsin opened this season as the favorite to win the Big Ten West Division and that won’t draw an argument from Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. The Badgers have made a habit of appearing in the Big Ten Championship game and have won three league titles in the past five years. Ferentz says the Badgers have been the dominant team in the division and one of the top programs in the Big Ten.

Paul Chryst is the third different Badger coach in four years but Ferentz says the style remains the same. Ferentz says the players did a good job of bouncing back after a disapointing season in 2014 and now need to show they can handle success after a 4-0 start.

Ferentz says running back Jordan Canzeri is one of several seniors who have stepped up their game this season. The native of New York has eight touchdowns already this season after failing to reach the end zone all of last year. Iowa’s red zone production is off the charts this season. The Hawkeyes have converted touchdowns on 14 of 16 opportunities for an 88 percent clip. That compares to 64 percent a year ago.

With top running back Corey Clement sidelined with an injury the Badgers have been riding the arm of quarterback Joel Stave. The Redshirt senior is completing 66 percent of his passes and is 24-8 as a starter.

(Learfield Sports)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Northern Iowa broke into the top 10 last season thanks largely to the play of forward Seth Tuttle, arguably the best player in the school history. Tuttle has moved on and replacing him won’t be easy.

Tuttle’s departure will be the biggest challenge for the Panthers to overcome in 2015-16. Tuttle, a second-team All-American, anchored a team that won a school-record 31 games and was a dark horse Final Four candidate before falling to Louisville in the NCAA Tournament.

Tuttle isn’t the only frontcourt player the Panthers need to replace either. All three starters have moved on after combining for 27.7 points and 13.5 rebounds a game in 2014-15.