The Mets couldn’t begin Game 1 of the NLCS last night, as rain poured at Shea, postponing the series opener.
The game was canceled approximately an hour before it was set to begin. The series will open tonight, and last night’s game will be made up tomorrow, when the Mets and Cardinals were supposed to have an off day in St. Louis.
Executive vice president of baseball operations Jimmie Lee Solomon said yesterday that the call to bag the game was not in reaction to the fatal accident yesterday of Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, a former Met.
“It was weather-related,” Solomon said.
As for the Game 2 time tomorrow, Solomon said it is “to be determined.” The Mets were supposed to start Tom Glavine last night, facing off against St.
Louis righty Jeff Weaver.
That is the expected pitching matchup for tonight, although it’s possible Jeff Suppan, who had a stronger season than Weaver, could be moved up to tonight.
David Wright, meanwhile, was glad the game was canceled last night, considering the Lidle events.
“I think that it’s still going to be tough to focus for [today]. It’s still going to be tough to get up for a baseball game after one of our baseball brothers was just killed in a airplane accident,” Wright said. “It just makes baseball seem just very unimportant at this point, but somehow we’re going to have to regroup and focus.
“I mentioned before that there’s four teams left that are still trying to win a World Series, and as unimportant as that seems right now, we’re somehow going to have to try to regain that focus [today]. But it’s good that we’re not playing [last night], that we could just kind of focus our thoughts and focus our concentration on just praying and hoping that Cory’s family is OK.”
Added Billy Wagner, “It’s unfortunate about Cory and the things that went on, but it was up to Major League Baseball. We still have to be prepared to play baseball no matter what.”
Before the postponement, Willie Randolph was asked whether long reliever Darren Oliver would be on call to be ready to pitch early last night. If there were a rain delay during the game and Glavine hadn’t been unable to come back, Oliver likely would have had to pitch.
Oliver wasn’t needed, though. Last night, Game 1 was absent from Shea.
“We want to play,” Jose Reyes said. “If it’s raining, it’s tough. Nothing we can do about that.”
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Mets vs. Cardinals
NLCS glance
Game Date Site Time TV Radio
Game 1 Tonight @NY 8:19 Ch. 5 WFAN/WQEW
Game 2 Tomorrow @NY TBD Ch. 5 WFAN/ESPN
Game 3 Saturday @STL 8:05 Ch. 5 WFAN/WQEW
Game 4 Sunday @STL 8:15 Ch. 5 WFAN/ESPN
x-Game 5 Monday @STL 8:19 Ch. 5 WFAN/WQEW
x-Game 6 Wednesday @NY 4:19 Ch. 5 WFAN/ESPN
x-Game 7 Oct. 19 @NY 8:19 Ch. 5 WFAN/ESPN
x-if necessary; WFAN – 660 AM; WQEW – 1560 AM; ESPN – 1050 AM