The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Pirates are about to find out how good a listener Kris Benson is.

The Pirates' game against the Chicago Cubs was postponed Tuesday night because of threatening weather and will be made up as part of a twinight doubleheader Sept. 19.

Pirates right-hander Jeff D'Amico (3-4), coming off a 10-strikeout effort against Houston, will stay on schedule and pitch today against the Cubs' Kerry Wood (4-1).

Wood, who has won his last three starts against Pittsburgh, also was to have pitched Tuesday.

Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon flirted with the idea of keeping Benson on schedule and pitching him today, but decided not to alter his rotation after talking with pitching coach Spin Williams.

The one-day delay means Benson (4-5) will have a full week off since McClendon chastised him for not protecting a 2-0 lead Thursday in a 6-2 loss to Houston.

McClendon rarely criticizes his players in public, so his remarks appeared to illustrate his frustration with Benson's inability to become the dominating starter the Pirates have long expected him to be.

"When you get a couple of runs, you've got to go back out and go 1-2-3 in the next inning," McClendon said Thursday.

"You've just gotten two runs off one of the best pitchers in the league (Roy Oswalt); you can't give those runs back. You've got your No. 1 starter against their No. 1 starter. Sometimes you've got to step up, execute, make your pitches. Sometimes you've got to win a game 2-0."

McClendon didn't back off those comments Tuesday. Benson, a right-handed pitcher, has won only 34 MLB games since being selected with the No. 1 pick in the June 1996 draft.

Still, McClendon was surprised his comments caused a stir in Pittsburgh.

"When the time comes a manager can't motivate his players, I'm in the wrong business," McClendon said. "If he's our guy, he's our No. 1, he's got to step up, and I told him the same thing."