CLEVELAND (AP) - Manager Manny Acta was eager for the Cleveland Indians to add to the best home record in the majors.
Heavy rains that at one point flooded the outfield at Progressive Field didn’t allow it and Saturday’s game against the Seattle Mariners was postponed.
“We would much rather play because you don’t want to pile up doubleheaders later and we already have one of those,” Acta said after the teams waited out a two-hour delay in the bottom of the first inning.
No makeup date was announced and a doubleheader may not be needed. The Mariners will return to Cleveland for a three-game series, Aug. 22-24. Both clubs have an open date on Aug. 25.
Acta and Mariners manager Eric Wedge will keep their pitching rotations intact. Josh Tomlin for Cleveland is scheduled to oppose Seattle rookie Michael Pineda on Sunday.
A series of showers hit downtown Cleveland with two outs in the bottom of the first inning with two Indians on base against Mariners starter Eric Bedard. Cleveland rookie Alex White had worked a 1-2-3 top of the first.
“We’ll have Alex available in the bullpen on his throwing day (Monday),” Acta said.
The postponement kept Cleveland from getting a chance to improve on its 15-4 home mark. Seattle didn’t get an opportunity to snap its six-game losing streak.
Plate umpire Laz Diaz called Acta and Wedge out of the dugout for a conference just prior to the first pitch, relaying to them a radar report he had received.
“This came up all of a sudden, but we were going to try and play it,” Acta said. “In the last week, we’ve had three games that we were not supposed to get in and we did. So we took a shot at this one.”
All statistics from the game were washed away.
The postponement gave Indians outfielder Grady Sizemore another day to rest his bruised right knee. Sizemore has been out since hurting it on a slide Tuesday night. He took batting practice indoors the past two days.
“Grady did OK,” Acta said. “I don’t think he can play Sunday, though.”
NOTES: Indians OF Trevor Crowe, rehabbing from right shoulder surgery, has been doing some light non-baseball workouts with the team. … Seattle optioned RHP David Cortes to Triple-A Tacoma to clear roster room for RHP Jeff Gray, who was claimed off waivers Friday from the Chicago White Sox.
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