NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Mets sidestepped another meteorological miscue Monday night.
A day after pushing starter Marcus Stroman to pitch amid rain that paused play after seven minutes, the Mets called off their game Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies with another downpour en route, rescheduling it as part of a doubleheader on Tuesday.
The decision was announced about two hours before Monday’s 7:10 p.m. scheduled first pitch.
The single-admission doubleheader will start at 4:10 p.m. Tuesday, and the second game will start about 30 minutes after the first game ends. Both games will be seven innings, keeping with an adjustment introduced during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
New York has played just five games in the first 12 days of the season due to a COVID-19 outbreak among the Washington Nationals and then bad weather.
The rainout follows a blunder by the Mets ballpark operations staff, which powered ahead with a first pitch Sunday afternoon, only to have umpires waive the teams off the field two outs into the top of the first inning. Home teams make decisions regarding delays before games start, but once they’re under way, that power transfers to the umpires.
Stroman started that game for New York and threw just nine pitches. He tweeted his unhappiness to have wasted his turn in the rotation.
“This game should have never been started. Not smart at all,” Stroman tweeted during the delay. “Those conditions put everyone at risk. Beyond happy no players on either side were injured. Hate that I have to wait another 5 days to pitch again. That’s a miserable feeling.”
Mets manager Luis Rojas initially said Monday that Stroman would remain on four days of rest and pitch Friday at Colorado. After the postponement was announced, Rojas reversed course and said Stroman would start the nightcap Tuesday.
Rojas said Stroman had initially wanted to recreate his entire between-start regimen, including a bullpen and workouts, but after playing catch Monday, Stroman told his manager his arm would be ready for Tuesday.
“We want the guys to go out and be the best versions of themselves,” Rojas said.
Taijuan Walker (0-0, 3.00 ERA) will start Game 1 for the Mets, with Monday’s scheduled starter, lefty David Peterson, sliding back to Wednesday.
Phillies right-hander Chase Anderson (0-1, 3.60) will start Game 1 on Tuesday, with ace Aaron Nola (0-0, 2.53) getting the late game.
Rojas insisted the Mets learned a lesson about trying to “protect the players” from Sunday’s drama, but he also said the team didn’t plan to substitute a reliever for Peterson if Monday’s game had begun amid more rain.
“I don’t think we’re going to go to that with getting a reliever ready to protect the starter,” Rojas said. “We just have to be aware of that decision better when we make it, to not disrupt our starter.”
By comparison, Miami manager Don Mattingly opted to use reliever John Curtiss as an opener Sunday, leaving the Marlins rotation unaffected. Curtiss never reached the mound.
More rain is forecast Thursday for the series finale, when New York ace Jacob deGrom is set to pitch.
TOUCHY SUBJECT
Phillies manager Joe Girardi said he briefly watched one replay of Alec Bohm’s controversial slide into home Sunday night and otherwise hasn’t studied it.
Bohm scored the go-ahead run in the ninth inning of a 7-6 win over Atlanta, but he appeared to miss home plate as he slid into Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud. A replay review upheld a safe call made on the field despite evidence to the contrary.
“I kind of moved on,” Girardi said Monday, adding “it was one of those calls I believe that no matter what call was made, it was going to stand.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: The team was still awaiting results of testing on RHP Archie Bradley’s strained oblique. Bradley was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday.
Mets: RHP Carlos Carrasco (right hamstring) will throw four innings in his next simulated game and could report to the team’s alternate training site in Brooklyn after that. Rojas said he’s also taking infield and swinging a bat. … RHP Seth Lugo (right elbow surgery) hopes to get on a mound for the first time since his February operation next week. … RHP Drew Smith (right shoulder) has resumed playing catch.
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