Around the NL Central: May 3 Edition

News from around the Central:

• St. Louis third baseman David Freese's broken right hand will need surgery, and it's feared/expected that Freese will be out until late July because of the injury.
• Yesterday's scheduled game between the Reds and Astros was washed out thanks to a steady downpour in Cincinnati.  MLB announced that the game will be made up on Thursday, when both teams were scheduled to have to the day off.  Homer Bailey is expected to make his season debut for the Reds in the make-up game.
• The rainout provided an extra day for Astro outfielder Carlos Lee to recover; following a scary collision with shortstop Angel Sanchez, Lee was stiff and sore but traveled with the team to Cincinnati. He's considered day-to-day.
• Injured Cubs starters Andrew Cashner (rotator cuff strain) and Randy Wells (forearm strain) continue to rehab from injury, with each throwing a bullpen session yesterday.  Neither had thrown off a mound since the beginning of April.
• Don't look now, but the Pirates are 14-15 on the season, a half-game ahead of the Brewers in the standings. One reason for the (relatively) hot start? Improved performance from the bullpen, which came into Monday's game boasting a stingy 2.09 ERA.

Last night's action:

• Last night's game in St. Louis had all the makings of a barnburner in the early going, as St. Louis scored two runs in the first and three in the third while Florida plated four runs off Kyle Lohse (thanks to a Gaby Sanchez grand slam) in the top of 3 to make it a 5-4 affair after three innings.  Once again, though, the story came in the late innings, as the Fish broke a 5-5 tie with a run in the eighth following a Mike Stanton triple; Marlins win, 6-5.
• Cincinnati and Houston were rained out.
• Pittsburgh continued its (relative) hot streak with a 4-3 triumph over the Padres in San Diego.  All of Pittsburgh's offense came in the top of the first, courtesy of twin two-run homers off the bats of Garrett Jones (6) and Chris Snyder (1).  From there, James McDonald kept the Fathers at bay, going six innings and striking out five while giving up two runs.
• Chicago couldn't figure out Clayton Kershaw in Los Angeles: after scoring a run in the top of the first, the Cub bats went into the deep freeze as Kershaw pitched seven solid innings -- 8 hits, 2 earned runs, no walks, 4 strikeouts -- and L.A. used a three-run fifth to put away Chicago, 5-2.