ST. LOUIS – Game 4 of the World Series was postponed Wednesday because of rain and will be made up Thursday night.

That pushed Game 5 at Busch Stadium back to Friday night, which was supposed to be a day off in the Series between the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals. Rain was in the forecast through Friday.

The Cardinals lead the best-of-seven Series 2-1 after a 5-0 victory behind ace Chris Carpenter in Game 3 on Tuesday night.

The rainout gives St. Louis manager Tony La Russa a chance to juggle his rotation if he wants. He could bring Jeff Weaver back on regular rest in Game 5 instead of pitching rookie Anthony Reyes again. Reyes, however, tossed eight-plus strong innings for a 7-2 victory in the opener.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland could do the same with Kenny Rogers, who beat Weaver in Game 2 on Sunday night and extended his shutout streak to 23 innings this postseason. But Leyland specifically set up his rotation to give Rogers two starts at home, and the Series doesn’t shift back to Detroit until Game 6.

It was the first World Series rainout since the 1996 opener between the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees.

It also was the fourth washout of a wet postseason. The Cardinals had two games rained out in the NL championship series against the New York Mets, and Game 2 of Detroit’s first-round series at Yankee Stadium also was postponed.