Mets vs. Cardinals series finale postponed by rain, resulting in tough August road trip
Clouds hang over Busch Stadium as weather delays the start of a baseball game between the Cardinals and the Mets on Wednesday in St. Louis. Credit: AP/Jeff Roberson
ST. LOUIS — The Mets-Cardinals rainout Wednesday yielded a particularly unfortunate rescheduling for the visitors.
The makeup game is set for Aug. 5 at 5:15 p.m. ET. That means the Mets will have to make a return trip to Busch Stadium on what had been an off day between series in Southern California and Denver (which is followed by Seattle).
That midsummer road trip now is a beast: 10 games, 10 days, four cities, three time zones.
“It’s part of it. It’s what we do,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’ll be ready for it. We’ll worry about that when we get there, but it’s part of what we do.”
Jose Quintana and Sonny Gray were lined up to pitch the teams’ season series finale Wednesday afternoon, but Mother Nature had other ideas, with storms ravaging much of the Midwest. Everybody sat around for a rain delay of 2 1/2 hours before the game got called, just as the sun came out. More rain was expected later.
Pitching plans
Following an off day Thursday, the Mets will keep their rotation in line for a weekend set against Atlanta: Quintana on Friday, Christian Scott on Saturday and Luis Severino on Sunday.
For Scott, the Mets’ top pitching prospect, that start will mark his Citi Field debut. He made his major-league debut against the Rays last weekend.
“It’ll be electric,” Mendoza said. “Just watching our fans here in St. Louis and Tampa, how much they were cheering for him, I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a lot of people looking forward to watch Scotty pitch at Citi Field. I’m expecting a big-time crowd and a lot of support from our fans.”
Scott said: “I’m really excited to throw in front of the fans. The fans have been great to me. I’m going to give everything I got to get the win on (Saturday).”
Extra bases
Mendoza said he views the catching split between Tomas Nido and Omar Narvaez as 50-50 still, but Nido has started seven of the past 10 games . . . The Mets are likely to wear their black uniforms for the first time this season Friday. They haven’t done so yet because Fanatics hadn’t delivered the correct pants.
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.
