Subway Series opener postponed due to inclement weather; Yankees to host Mets in split doubleheader Tuesday
The tarp is out on the field prior to a scheduled game between the Yankees and Mets at Yankee Stadium on Monday, June 10, 2019. The game was postponed until Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The forecast for Monday in the Bronx called for rain all day and into the night. The Yankees and Mets are both off Wednesday.
The obvious move would have been to postpone Monday’s Subway Series opener early in the day and switch the game to Wednesday. But that option wasn’t possible for two reasons – Yankee Stadium isn’t available on Wednesday and neither are the Mets. We’ll explain why in a moment.
So the Yankees made the decision to open the stadium gates and try to play on Monday. But at about 6:30, with light rain falling and the stadium shrouded in fog, the team announced that the scheduled 7:10 p.m. game had been postponed.
The Yankees and Mets will play a separate-admission, day-night doubleheader on Tuesday, with the first game at 1:05 p.m. and the second at 7:05.
Masahiro Tanaka will return from the paternity leave list to start Tuesday’s opener against the Mets’ Zack Wheeler. The Yankees’ James Paxton will pitch Game 2 against Jason Vargas in a battle of lefthanders.
The forecast for Tuesday is lovely – 74 degrees with sunny skies expected for Tanaka’s first pitch. The same weather is predicted for Wednesday, when baseball will be played at Yankee Stadium. Just not by the Yankees and Mets.
Yankee Stadium will host a trio of New York City high school games on Wednesday. First will be the Catholic High Schools Athletic Association (CHSAA) all-star game at 10 a.m.
Then, a pair of Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) championship games will be played, with the first one beginning at 4 p.m.
The Mets have their own conflict on Wednesday. At 6 p.m., the team will host its annual Summer in the Citi charity dinner at Citi Field to benefit the Mets Foundation.
Tables of 10 for this dinner go for as high as $35,000. One table features rookie general manager Brodie Van Wagenen. Another features NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom. Still another allows the ticket buyer to sit with Michael Conforto and another player to be determined, and another with closer Edwin Diaz and a second player, also to be determined. Individual tickets are $1,500.
There will be a post-dinner fireworks show.
Brandon Nimmo and Robinson Cano were supposed to be the other players at the tables, but both are heading to Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday to play in a minor-league rehab game and will presumably still be there Wednesday. Other players will pinch hit at the dinner.
It would have been a big deal if the high school games at Yankee Stadium had to be postponed or canceled and a big deal if the Mets’ charity dinner had to be postponed or canceled. Hence, Tuesday’s split doubleheader.
Monday’s postponement was a benefit to the Yankees because their bullpen was fried after they chose to use an opener on Sunday in Cleveland with Tanaka unavailable after the birth of his second child on Friday.
Aaron Boone used seven relievers in Sunday’s 7-6, 10-inning victory over the Indians, including opener Chad Green. The Mets were in better shape in that regard after Noah Syndergaard threw seven shutout innings in a 6-1 victory over the Rockies.
Both teams’ bullpens will be tested on Tuesday. But the Yankees and Mets will get to add a 26th man for the doubleheader. And both teams will have Wednesday off.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
