Postponed game irked playoff-hopeful Marlins
The Mets inadvertently threw a wrench into a series that is virtually meaningless for themselves but monstrous for the Marlins, who are playing with some of the strangest bulletinboard material in recent memory.
The Marlins want to beat the Mets and probably their grounds crew, too.
Miami was angry after Tuesday’s game — which was set to begin several hours after the day’s last raindrop fell — had to be postponed due to poor field conditions, setting up a doubleheader that was split Wednesday at Citi Field.
The field had been battered by rain from Tropical Storm Ophelia for four days, but the precipitation had relented by late afternoon Tuesday, when the tarp was taken off the field.
The infield dirt, though — even after the grounds crew worked on it for several hours to try to dry the surfaces — was a mess because the tarp had not covered the field Saturday, when the Mets were playing in Philadelphia.
In the Marlins’ clubhouse, the news of the postponement “wasn’t well-received, to be honest,” Marlins outfielder Bryan De La Cruz said through an interpreter Wednesday.
“It was obviously a giant mess-up [Tuesday] night,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said.
The playability problem stemmed from the Mets’ grounds crew leaving the field uncovered Saturday. The practice of letting the field take water is not unique, according to a team source, provided there is enough time for the field to dry. Original forecasts had shown that the storms would cease earlier.
As it turned out, Ophelia lingered, and there was not enough time to get the field into shape.
“The reality is that the tarp wasn’t on over the weekend, and this is what happens,” said Schumaker, whose team’s spirit and then playoff hopes were slightly dented.
The eliminated Mets played the partial role of spoiler by taking the first game of the doubleheader, 11-2, before losing, 4-2, in the nightcap. The Marlins (82-76) are tied with the Cubs for the final NL wild card.
Mets manager Buck Showalter said he understood the Marlins’ frustration and stood up for Bill Deacon, the club’s executive director of field operations and landscaping, who is “one of the best groundskeepers I’ve ever been around.”
“Our sincere apologies to the Marlins and their fans for having to postpone [Tuesday] night’s game,” Mets owner Steve Cohen said in a tweet. “We know how important this series is to the Marlins and every effort was made to get the field playable.”
➤ The Mets believe the next time Starling Marte plays in a game, it will be a different, healthier Starling Marte than was seen this season.
The team officially acknowledged Wednesday that the right fielder will not play again this year. Marte had not played since Aug. 5, after which he was placed on the injured list with a groin injury that had bothered him all season.
Marte returned to the doctor who performed core muscle surgery on the outfielder last November, received an injection and continued to rehab the groin. He had wanted to make a lateseason return, but an expected rehab assignment this weekend was canceled because of travel issues and Marte feeling under the weather. The minor league season is now over.
They have run out of time for Marte to enter a game, but the Mets are reporting that Marte’s health has finally improved.
“He’s shown really good groin and core strength, sprint speed, hitting metrics that are back to his baseline,” Showalter said before Wednesday’s doubleheader. “I feel confident we’re
going to have a healthy player going forward.”
➤ Joey Lucchesi, who allowed two runs in six-plus innings, told reporters that his Uber got into an accident when leaving Citi Field on Tuesday night.
Lucchesi said he is “all right” but experienced some back soreness.
“The police were chasing this stranger, and then the guy collided into our car,” Lucchesi told reporters. “Totally messed up the Uber’s left side — I was on the right side luckily. It wasn’t too drastic of a crash.”
Lucchesi said the car was no longer driveable, but Tylor Megill happened to witness the crash and was able to take Lucchesi and his family back to their hotel. According to Lucchesi, police arrested the suspect.