Fans play the waiting game at Wrigley

Nobody does rain delays quite like the Cubs.

Over the years, fans and players have sat and waited with the tarp on the field and no rain in sight because the Cubs were anticipating rain.

Sunday's game against the Pirates was called after an interesting 3-hour, 15-minute delay.

Rains came just before the scheduled 1:20 p.m. start, and the tarp went on the field. It rained for about 15 minutes and stopped for much of the afternoon. The rains picked up again near 4, and the game was called at 4:35. The rain stopped shortly after that but started again shortly after 6.

No makeup date has been announced. The Pirates come back to town Sept. 29-Oct. 1, so a doubleheader on one of those days is likely.

"The problem was, after the first rain shower, there was a window," said manager Lou Piniella. "They knew that more rain was coming and the game would have to be stopped. So they waited for the second wave to come through, and it just hung around for a lot longer than people thought.

"They thought we would get this game started in the 4 o'clock range or so, but now it looked on radar that there was more rain out there. I don't think this game could have started much before 6 o'clock, if at that. It was an inconvenience to the fans, but at the same time, they tried everything in their power to get this game in."

Staying on plan: The Cubs will stay on their planned rotation for the San Diego series beginning tonight, meaning Sunday's starter, Rich Harden, will be pushed back to the series at Los Angeles, which begins Thursday.

Harden sounded like he wanted to pitch sooner, but Lou Piniella said the Cubs will bring lefty Ted Lilly off the disabled list tonight, followed by Ryan Dempster and Randy Wells. Lefty Tom Gorzelanny also figures to get a start in L.A.

Theriot sick: Shortstop Ryan Theriot stayed home Sunday with a bad stomach virus, and Lou Piniella said Theriot wouldn't fly to San Diego until today. Aaron Miles was supposed to start at shortstop Sunday, and Piniella said Miles likely will do so tonight.