ST. LOUIS — Just as the Mets and Cardinals were set to play their series finale on Wednesday, the sky began to darken, catching the attention of several Mets players who stepped out of the dugout to see what was happening. Among them was Jake Diekman, a self-proclaimed tornado enthusiast who grew up hunting twisters in Nebraska.
Diekman pulled out his phone to show off an extreme weather expert he was following, who was tracking a tornado moving through eastern Missouri. Although that storm never came close to Busch Stadium, the persistent rain in the forecast was enough for the teams to postpone the game. The makeup date has been scheduled for Aug. 5 at 5:15 p.m. ET/4:15 p.m. CT.
For the Mets, this postponement complicates an already long road trip through the Western United States. With the added stop in St. Louis between their games in Anaheim and Denver, the team is now facing a grueling 10-day, 10-game trip across four cities and three time zones.
“It’s part of the game,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’ll be ready for it. We’ll handle it when the time comes.”
For now, the Mets will simply push their starting pitchers back by a day. José Quintana is set to start on Friday for the series opener against the Braves, and Christian Scott will make his Citi Field debut on Saturday.
“It’s going to be electric,” Mendoza said about Scott’s first home game. “I’m sure a lot of people are excited to see Scotty pitch at Citi Field. I expect a big crowd and a ton of support from our fans.”
The Cardinals, who are on a four-game losing streak, got a brief break ahead of their upcoming four-game series against the Brewers. St. Louis has moved Sonny Gray, their probable starter for Wednesday, to Thursday’s opener. The rest of their pitching plan has yet to be announced.
“I’m going to take some time to decide how we want to approach the next four days and beyond from a personnel perspective,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.
