Mets may have to play on Monday as game vs. Marlins is suspended in ninth due to rain
Rain falls during a rain delay in a game between the Mets and the Marlins on Friday at Citi Field. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
After a rain delay of 3 hours and 17 minutes, the Mets’ season series finale with the Marlins was suspended in the ninth inning early Friday morning.
They are scheduled to finish the game Monday, a day after the regular season is supposed to end, according to Miami general manger Kim Ng.
But that might be the case only if it carries playoff implications. Miami held a half-game lead over the Cubs for the final NL wild-card spot.
The Marlins led, 2-1, with two outs in the top of the ninth when play was paused. If resumed, it would pick up exactly there, with Jorge Soler due to bat and runners on first and second.
"Without getting into the details, obviously this is an unfortunate incident," Ng said. "Right now, we’re being told that we'll have to play [the suspended game] on Monday.”
Mets manager Buck Showalter said: “It’s fine. It’s what we do for a living. We play games . . . and we get compensated very well for it, so I really don’t want to hear it.”
This was the second rain-induced mess of the series. The teams had to play a doubleheader Wednesday after their Tuesday contest was postponed because of unplayable field conditions following a days-long storm. The rain had stopped by gametime, but Citi Field was so waterlogged that it was deemed not safe for players.
Already peeved by how that unfolded, Marlins officials appeared similarly annoyed as Thursday dipped into Friday.
At one point after midnight, when the rain had slowed and the tarp was pulled off the infield, Miami manager Skip Schumaker engaged in a heated discussion in leftfield with Sue Lucchi, senior vice president of ballpark operations, and Bill Deacon, executive director of field operations and landscaping. Alfonso Marquez, the crew chief and second-base umpire, appeared to be playing peacekeeper.
That was during a brief stretch when the teams looked like they were ready to resume — with players loitering in the dugout and on the warning track — but the grounds crew made no significant effort to prepare the field, which featured lots of puddles.
Minutes later, it began to rain harder, they put the tarp back on the infield and weighed it down with tractors and planks of wood.
The announcement of a suspension came at 12:58 a.m.
“Anybody that insinuates anything but professional conduct — I mean, our guys are trying to get it done and treat them like we would want to be treated,” Showalter said.
Rain was forecasted to continue through Friday, putting the Mets’ opener with the Phillies in doubt.
The Mets were three outs away from a victory when the Marlins rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth against Grant Hartwig and Anthony Kay. Jazz Chisholm Jr. had a tying double, Yuli Gurriel the go-ahead single.
With the game potentially four outs from completion — one to finish the Marlins’ half of the ninth, three in the bottom of the ninth — and the rain starting, Marquez called for the tarp, halting the game at 9:41 p.m.
Before the rain, Brandon Nimmo departed at the start of the fifth inning because of discomfort in the AC joint in his right shoulder, Showalter said. He’ll get an MRI Friday afternoon to check for rotator cuff damage and probably won’t play the rest of the season, Showalter added.
David Peterson tossed seven shutout innings, his best start of the year coming in his personal season finale. Rafael Ortega’s RBI single in the eighth snapped a scoreless tie in the bottom of the eighth.
“Ready to go home,” Peterson said after the long delay. “We didn’t know [if play would resume]. We knew they obviously wanted to play and the game has implications for them. We were kind of just told to wait and hang around and see what happens. So that’s what we did.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
