The Mets and Marlins were supposed to play a baseball game on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, the only thing played at Citi Field was Mario Kart on the huge scoreboard.
Both squads are set to play a straight doubleheader on Wednesday in Queens, and Miami is livid about it, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
The Mets aren’t playing for much over their final six games. They’ve already secured a losing campaign and New York just needs to reach the offseason. But there’s more on the line for the Marlins. They enter Wednesday’s game with an 81-75 record. Miami has plenty to play for, as they’re 0.5 games out of the final NL Wild Card.
Here’s a bit of what Rosenthal said about the situation (via The Athletic):
Miami Marlins officials were furious their game against the Mets at Citi Field was postponed due to unplayable field conditions. The last rain from Tropical Storm Ophelia stopped around 5 p.m., but despite efforts by the Mets’ grounds crew to make the field playable, the game was called shortly after 8 p.m.
Marlins officials, granted anonymity in exchange for their candor, were told the problem with the playing surface at Citi Field arose because the Mets’ grounds crew did not cover the infield Saturday, the first of four straight days of rain. The team was playing in Philadelphia at the time.
The grounds crew eventually put the tarp down, but water got under it, creating a mess. The infield took on so much water from Saturday to Monday, the grounds crew did not have enough of a dry period to get the infield back to a playable condition Tuesday.
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What Rosenthal also noted was how this postponement changes the Marlins’ starting rotation over this final week of the regular season. He noted that Braxton Garrett, who was supposed to pitch on Tuesday, will be on the mound for Game 1 on Wednesday.
However, unless he starts on three days rest, Garrett won’t be able to start Miami’s regular-season finale on Sunday vs. the Pirates. Garrett is the Marlins’ best-remaining starter because of other injuries. He’s 9-6 with a 3.53 ERA in 155.2 innings this season.
My biggest takeaway from this is…who cares?
I mean, don’t get me wrong. If I was associated with the Marlins in any way and this happened, I’d also be annoyed. But then again, it’s very rare that things line up perfectly for a team in a playoff race. Especially when we’re in the last week of the regular season.
It’s far from an ideal situation, but good teams — playoff-bound teams — figure it out. Plus, it’s not like Miami controls its own destiny. They have to take care of business these next three games in Queens before they can worry about what happens in Pittsburgh.
It’s understandable that they didn’t want to play a doubleheader on Wednesday. However, the Mets’ ground crew didn’t leave the tarp off with thoughts of sabotaging the Marlins’ postseason chances. During the rain delay, the booth mentioned how it’s not uncommon for a field to be uncovered during a storm. Should it have been covered since we knew how much rain was supposed to come? Well, maybe. But again — we’re splitting hairs here.
I’m just interested to see if the Mets can spoil Miami’s playoff chances for once. Let’s not forget that the Marlins were in town to finish the season in 2007 and 2008. They played spoiler on both occasions to prevent New York from reaching the playoffs. Let’s see those roles get reversed for a change, yeah?
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
