Marlins' series opener vs. Mets rained out

NEW YORK -- Tropical storm Andrea struck out the Marlins' series opener with the Mets on Friday night.

The first tropical storm of the hurricane season has doused the New York area, prompting the postponement of the first of three games at Citi Field.

The contest will be made up Saturday, Sept. 14, as part of a single-admission doubleheader, with the first game starting at 4:10 p.m. ET in what will be a four-game series.

Weather permitting, the Marlins and Mets will play on Saturday at 1:10 p.m., and the series finale is for Sunday, also at 1:10 p.m.

The Marlins are shuffling their rotation a bit due to the postponement. On Saturday, Jose Fernandez will start. The 20-year-old was set to go on Friday, and on Sunday, Tom Koehler will make the start.

Fernandez, like a number of players, was already at Citi Field when the announcement came that the game was called. The right-hander played some catch to keep his arm loose.

The extra day off helped the team physically. Third baseman Placido Polanco, who didn't play in the three games at Philadelphia due to a virus, is expected to be ready on Saturday. And Chris Coghlan, hampered by a sore calf, had an another day of recovery.

"Health-wise, it really helped us," Redmond said. "It gave us another day. A couple of guys had been sick. Polanco has been sick. It gives him an extra day to recover. I think it is good to give us another day to get ready to go."

Initially, Kevin Slowey was scheduled for Saturday, and Koehler for Sunday. Slowey now is being pushed back to Tuesday at home against Milwaukee.

Ricky Nolasco, who threw a bullpen in New York on Friday, will start on Monday in the first game with the Brewers, and Jacob Turner will start the series finale Wednesday.

"We'd like to keep Ricky on his regular rotation," Redmond said. "Slowey is a guy who has been around a while. We can use him out of the bullpen the next couple of days, if we need a guy to throw a couple of innings."

After a scheduled day off on Thursday, the Marlins now are getting a two-day breather after being swept in three games in Philadelphia.

For the Mets, Friday marks their second straight game halted by rain. The impact of Andrea reached them on Thursday night while they were at Washington to face the Nationals.

The Marlins now have had two dates this season postponed because of weather. On April 22, they were snowed out at Minnesota. The Interleague game was made up in a day/night doubleheader at Target Field on April 23, and the teams split.