ATLANTA -- The rain that was expected to dissipate shortly after the Giants and Braves began their game on Tuesday night proved to be stronger and more persistent than weather forecasts projected it would be.
“Atlanta is a very challenging weather city for us,” MLB vice president of umpire operations Matt McKendry said. “What was showing up on radar didn't match what we were actually seeing there at the ballpark.”
Tuesday’s game was suspended after a nearly two-hour delay. The game will resume on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) with the Giants leading 3-2, heading into the bottom of the second inning.
Both teams will have the opportunity to promote an extra pitcher to be active for Wednesday’s regularly scheduled game, which is slated to start at 7:15 p.m. ET. JR Ritchie will be on the mound for the night game in Atlanta, which will use a reliever to serve as a bridge in the resumption of the first game. Meanwhile, Robbie Ray, who was initially scheduled to start Wednesday's game for San Francisco, will instead start the resumption of Game 1. The Giants' starting pitcher for the night game is TBD.
“Looking at the forecast and the radar, it looked like we were going to be able to play through some light stuff early, and it would have stopped, and we'd have been fine.”
The heavy rainfall saturated the infield dirt and led the grounds crew to begin working on the field at 7:57 p.m. ET, 42 minutes after the first pitch was thrown. What initially looked like a minor delay proved to be a lengthy one.
The grounds crew worked on the field for approximately 90 minutes before Braves manager Walt Weiss and Giants skipper Tony Vitello came out to assess the field around 9:30 p.m. ET. They both were hoping to resume play around 10 p.m. ET. But as the rain fell as they stood on the dirt between second and third base, all parties decided the field would be unplayable.
“When we went out there that second time, we were going to see if the work those guys had put in had done enough to get out there and play,” Vitello said. “It probably was [enough], but not with more rain coming. It already started to shine when we were out there. We were out there for a long time, just because no one wanted to make a rash decision.”
All ticket holders from Tuesday’s suspended game will be admitted to the 2 p.m. ET game on Wednesday. Gates will open at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Wednesday night‘s regularly scheduled game will take place at 7:15 p.m. ET. Gates will open approximately one hour after the conclusion of the suspended game.
A separate ticket will be required for both games. For more information, please visit braves.com/rainout.