PHILADELPHIA — It took 4,746 days for the World Series to return to Philadelphia.
What’s one more before an actual pitch is thrown?
Major League Baseball postponed Game 3 between the Phillies and Houston Astros after consulting the weather forecast Monday evening. The series will pick back up at 8:03 p.m. Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park, with Games 4 and 5 set for Wednesday night and Thursday night.
Tickets will be valid based on the game number, MLB announced. Fans who are holding Game 3 tickets will be admitted to the ballpark on Tuesday night, with Game 4 tickets honored on Wednesday and Game 5 on Thursday.
The Phillies and Astros split the first two games in Houston.
“Just looking at the radar, it looked like it was going to pick up over the course of the night and it looks like at 9 o’clock it’s going to be raining pretty hard,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “So, it’s the right decision, really.”
Game 7 was scheduled to be played Saturday night at Houston’s Minute Maid Park. But MLB will preserve the travel day and push if-necessary Games 6 and 7 to Saturday night and Sunday night, respectively.
There’s another wrinkle to this whole thing. The Eagles and Houston Texans play Thursday night in Texas, which will pit the World Series against the NFL in both markets.
It wasn’t raining when MLB made the decision to postpone. But the forecast called for persistent rain throughout the night, and neither MLB nor the teams wanted to start a game under the threat of a weather delay.
Before the rainout was announced, commissioner Rob Manfred told MLB Network that the rain was expected to be heavier than it was in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. Although the Phillies and San Diego Padres continued playing that game, the infield turned muddy and reliever Seranthony Domínguez threw three wild pitches in the seventh inning because he had difficulty gripping the ball.
Aside from the scheduling, the biggest impact on the series will involve the teams’ pitching plans — and the Phillies may reap a few benefits, at least in Game 3.
Left-hander Ranger Suárez will start Game 3 rather than Noah Syndergaard, who has pitched a total of 5⅓ innings since the end of the regular season. Aaron Nola will start Game 4.
Interestingly, Thomson said Syndergaard will start Game 5 unless he’s needed out of the bullpen before then. Otherwise, it will be Kyle Gibson, who has tossed 1⅓ innings since the end of the season. The Phillies won’t use ace Zack Wheeler before Game 6 on Saturday night, believing he could benefit from additional rest.
The Astros will stick with Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 3, manager Dusty Baker said, but will consider bringing back ace Justin Verlander on normal rest for Game 4 on Wednesday. Verlander was scheduled to pitch that night in Game 5.
For now, Baker said he’s expecting to stay on rotation and start Cristian Javier in Game 4.
“I don’t think we need to rest really right now,” Baker said. “We’ve had plenty of rest. We’ve had a lot of off days this last month. So, it’s just a temporary postponement. We’ll just take it as that and come out ready to play [Tuesday].”
Incidentally, rain has now impacted Game 3 in each of the last four World Series involving the Phillies. Game 3 was delayed in 1993, 2008, and 2009, with all of those games taking place in Philadelphia.
On his way out of the postponed World Series game, Adam Sigley, 30, of Allentown, bought a beer from a vendor to drown his sorrows. ”We’re upset,” he said. “I’m not happy, my wife can’t come tomorrow.”
Sigley’s wife, Michelle, who works in health care, said her bosses went to bat for her to have off Monday, but she can’t come Tuesday.
”Now I have to choose between my brother or my best friend to bring to the game tomorrow,” Adam Sigley said.
Kevin Duffy, 74, of West Philly, who was fully in character as Santa at the game, did not let the rain postponement dampen his spirits. Duffy was going around telling people in Astros gear that they were on the naughty list this year.
”It’s not gonna stop the Phillies. Santa’s prediction is Phillies in six, maybe in five,” he said.
Astor Lawson, 41, of Allentown, brought his son Dempsey, 13, and said they would be back Tuesday and hoped to find the same standing-room spot behind home plate.
”We were hoping the game would happen but it is what it is,” Lawson said. “Tomorrow, we just get to do it all over again.”
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(Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer Stephanie Farr contributed to this report.)
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