NEW YORK — The rain didn’t go away for two National League East Division rivals over the weekend at Citi Field, and now their hope is that a favorable forecast proves true Monday, when they have a lot of baseball to play.
The Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets were rained out for the second straight day on Sunday, and for the second straight day there was little question about not being able to take the field. Sunday’s game was postponed about 3 1/2 hours before the scheduled first pitch at 1:40 p.m., and it will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader that starts at 1:10 p.m. Monday — a date originally scheduled as one contest and the conclusion of a four-game series.
The Braves said Sunday’s scheduled starter, Spencer Strider (3-0, 1.80 ERA), will start Monday’s opener, followed by Charlie Morton (3-2, 2.76 ERA), who already was penciled in as Monday’s probable starter. Denyi Reyes will make his second MLB start and first for the Mets in the first game, with scheduled Sunday starter Tylor Megill (3-1, 3.96 ERA) getting the ball in the second game. All four scheduled starters are right-handers.
Saturday’s game was postponed more than two hours before its scheduled 4:10 p.m. start and rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader at Citi Field on Aug. 12. The opening game of this series, a 4-0 win for Atlanta on Friday night, was shortened by rain to five innings.
When the NL East rivals finally resume play — as of Sunday afternoon, the chances of rain Monday were at less than 20% — New York’s pitching staff will look much different.
With co-aces Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander poised to return to the rotation this week, rookie right-hander José Butto was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday. Butto was 0-1 with a 2.79 ERA in two starts.
That move came one day after struggling left-hander David Peterson was optioned to Syracuse as well. Peterson was 1-4 with a 7.34 ERA in six starts.
Neither was part of New York’s projected rotation going into spring training, but both have filled in for a depleted unit. Scherzer and Verlander have combined to pitch only 19 1/3 innings this season, but the Mets will enter May with a 15-12 record.
The Mets also placed reliever Brooks Raley on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation Saturday, retroactive to April 28, leaving the team without a lefty in the bullpen. Adam Ottavino was reinstated from the paternity list, and fellow right-hander John Curtiss was recalled from Syracuse.
Verlander went down just before opening day and has been sidelined all season by a teres major strain in his upper back. He pitched well in a rehab start Friday for Double-A Binghamton and is expected to come off the injured list and make his Mets debut Wednesday or Thursday against the host Detroit Tigers, his original MLB team.
Scherzer is serving a 10-game suspension imposed by Major League Baseball after his ejection for having a foreign substance on his hand while pitching in an April 19 game against the host Los Angeles Dodgers. If the Mets play both games Monday, he becomes eligible to return to the mound Tuesday at Detroit, rejoining a rotation that also includes Megill, Kodai Senga and Joey Lucchesi going forward.
Right-hander Carlos Carrasco is sidelined due to right elbow inflammation and a bone spur, and fellow veteran José Quintana is out until at least July as the left-hander recovers from rib surgery.
The Mets have lost five of their past six games. The Braves have won seven of the past eight meetings between the teams dating to last year, including a pivotal three-game sweep in Atlanta near the end of last season that sent them to their fifth straight division title.