Advertisement

Detroit Tigers at New York Mets postponed due to rain, rescheduled for 1:10 p.m. Thursday

NEW YORK — Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene walked through the clubhouse and expressed optimism about playing baseball.

"Don't check out," Greene said. "There's a window."

But the window of playable weather didn't arrive early enough, so the Tigers and New York Mets postponed Tuesday's game, scheduled for 7:10 p.m., because of inclement weather at Citi Field in Queens, where there was rain all day.

The game will be made up at 1:10 p.m. Thursday.

"We can't control the weather," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Tuesday afternoon, before the postponement. "In an ideal world, we get the games in when we're supposed to get the games in. I think the biggest, most important thing is to not waste pitching, so the window really needs to be a window. We'll trust the forecast."

Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, on April 2, 2024, in Queens, New York.
Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, on April 2, 2024, in Queens, New York.

The Tigers and Mets are currently scheduled to play their next game at 7:10 p.m. Wednesday, but continued rain in the area could impact that game. For now, though, the Tigers are planning to play Wednesday and Thursday.

Right-hander Casey Mize is scheduled to start Wednesday and left-hander Tarik Skubal is scheduled to start Thursday to finish the three-game series against the Mets. The Tigers beat the Mets, 5-0, in Monday's series opener.

It will be Mize's first start for the Tigers since April 14, 2022.

CATCHING TANDEM: Tigers have legit catching duo in Carson Kelly, Jake Rogers. Here's what stands out

Mize was supposed to start Tuesday before the postponement.

"What does Mother Nature do? Rewards him with some unknown," Hinch said. "It'll be hard to keep his adrenaline. I think it's super important for us to play continuously, even if we have to play through a little bit of rain. The start and stop probably impacts him the most, just from an adrenaline standpoint. But he's earned this right. He pitched his way onto this team, and he'll take any conditions to compete again at this level."

The home opener at Comerica Park is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Friday against the Oakland Athletics. Because of Thursday's game, the Tigers won't have their off day at home before Friday's game against the Athletics.

There isn't an off day until April 10.

"We've been on the road since February 15, in one way or another," Hinch said. "It's obviously ideal to have a day off before, just to get guys settled, go to the grocery store, get yourself situated. Some have homes, some are still moving into their places. I feel for the families because they're generally the ones who have to wear it and set up things without us being involved, but our guys will be ready to play either way. The day games present a challenge because that's when you get your life business in order, but nobody needs to feel sorry for us. We'll be at the ballpark when we need to be."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, AppleSpotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers at Mets postponed due (rain), rescheduled for Thursday