ST. LOUIS — Byron Buxton is already changing the way the Twins play. Well, the order in which they bat, anyway.

The rookie center fielder will bat ninth tonight, just as he did yesterday in Texas. Difference is, the Twins and Cardinals are playing by National League rules, so pitcher Trevor May, who has never been to the plate in the majors — nor any level since he was in the Phillies' organization in 2012 — must be in the lineup. Manager Paul Molitor decided that May will bat eighth, and Buxton ninth.

The reason is pretty simple: Buxton's speed could change a game, and Molitor doesn't want the pitcher coming up behind him.

"I don't want to inhabit what he can do on the bases because of where he's hitting in the lineup," Molitor said. "He's a threat to a large enough degree, I want to free him up and not have him in front of the pitcher."

Molitor said he thought about the move when the Twins were in Pittsburgh last month (where Mike Pelfrey collected two hits). "Buxton kind of changed that dynamic for me," he said. "It can burn you. … [If] Trevor May comes up with two on and two out in the second inning, you've got to live with it."

For his part, May said after batting practice that today's session was the best he's had since he started practicing for tonight's start. His strategy: "Just try to hit the screen [in front of the batting-practice pitcher]." Good luck with that.

It's appropriate that the move is being made here in Busch Stadium, because it was longtime Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa who first tried batting the pitcher eighth.

Another big question is: Will the game even be played? It's raining at the moment and the field is covered; the Cardinals were also rained out yesterday. There is little appetite for playing two games tomorrow, given that Tuesday night's forecast is even worse, so we may wait out a lengthy delay to get this game in.

For now, here are the lineups for the Twins' first game in St. Louis since 2009:

TWINS

Dozier 2B

Rosario LF

Mauer 1B

Plouffe 3B

Hunter RF

Suzuki C

Escobar SS

May RHP

Buxton CF

CARDINALS

Wong 2B

Carpenter 3B

Peralta SS

Raynolds 1B

Moline C

Heyward RF

Grichuk LF

Jay CF

Lackey RHP