PITTSBURGH — Jonathan Sanchez didn’t look like a guy ready to give the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen a needed night off after the St. Louis Cardinals touched him for two runs in the first inning on Tuesday.

Instead, Mother Nature intervened.

A massive thunderstorm hit at the end of the second inning with the Pirates leading 4-2, and the game was called after a delay of 1 hour, 24 minutes. No makeup date was immediately announced.

The deluge wiped out a promising start for Pittsburgh’s offense but the Pirates could certainly use the break after the bullpen did yeoman’s work in relief of struggling starter James McDonald on Monday night.

The right-hander gave up eight runs — three earned — in a 10-6 loss but insisted he’s not injured.

The struggling McDonald understands his velocity is down but doesn’t believe it is injury-related. His fastball — which can top out at 94 mph — rarely ticked about 90 mph against the Cardinals. He isn’t panicking, pointing to similar issues early in the 2012 season.

“It was just one of those times you don’t feel too well,” McDonald said on Tuesday. “It’s just one of those times where your body feels beat up.”

McDonald fell to 1-2 as his ERA rose to 5.27. While there may be some mechanical issues at work he believes he’s also just trying to get into the rhythm of the season..

“You don’t have your good stuff every single time,” he said. “You have to battle through it.”

Tuesday night’s cancellation could give the Pirates some flexibility.

Sanchez — who came in with a 12.96 ERA — allowed two runs in the first inning but retired the side in order in the second.

Matt Holliday had an RBI single for St. Louis. Garrett Jones, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez all had RBI singles for Pittsburgh. None of it will count, however, and the game will be replayed in its entirety.

The rainout allows Pittsburgh’s depleted bullpen to get a needed day of rest. The Pirates called up reliever Vin Mazzaro from Triple-A Indianapolis.