May 23, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Mets grounds crew covers the infield prior to the rain in the fourth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
This is how it has been going for the Arizona Diamondbacks this season and I guess this team is used to it by now. After getting swept in St. Louis the Dbacks were looking to salvage their 6 game roadtrip opening up a 3 game series in Flushing N.Y against the Mets. The Snakes were doing just that early on in game 1.
The Dbacks got an early 2-0 lead thanks to an Aaron Hill two run homer into the Party City Deck in left field, and starter Chase Anderson was cruising looking to become the first Diamondbacks starter ever to win his first three big league starts.
Then came the severe weather that everybody knew was coming. This unfourtunatly is something the Snakes know all to well when they come to New York. Remember last year’s marathon four game series at Citi Field that featured delay after delay? Well it happened again. Their was a 50% chance of rain coming in, so everybody knew the severe weather would come at some point.
Lightning first sparked a delay, and then the rain came. Looking at the radar during the early parts of the delay, both teams and the umpires thought that the game could still be played. However as the night went along, the rain only picked up in intensity. At 7:25 MST the umpires declared the game postponed.
Since the game didn’t reach 5 innnings, the game wlll have to be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sunday that will start at 10:10 MST with game 1. Gone is Aaron Hill’s two run homer, and Chase Anderson’s three shutout innings. He will have to wait to try to win his third start in a row.
Kirk Gibson talked about the rain after the game was postponed with MLB.com: “We had a lead, and we liked the direction we were going, but you can’t control Mother Nature,” Gibson said. “I’d rather stay, but I could see it was going to be raining. We initially were hoping we could just wait it out and play the game tonight. That would be my preference. We had the lead in the game, and it’s always better to stay out there and play a game instead of a doubleheader.”
Gibson has decided that Bronson Arroyo will start game 1 of the double header but he hasn’t decided who will start game 2. Teams can call up a 26th man for a doubleheader and the Snakes are going to call up a pitcher from the minors to start game 2. Zeke Spurill could be an option since he is already on the 40 man roster. Andrew Chafin who was just promoted to Reno is not an option. Gibson has also already said that he doesn’t plan to use Randall Delgado or Trevor Cahill.
The Dbacks will play game 1 of this series this afternoon at 1:10 MST with Josh Collmenter getting the ball for Arizona facing Zach Wheeler.