ATLANTA -- Given that their bullpen was taxed after the Mets claimed a lopsided win on Wednesday night, the Braves weren't necessarily upset that the first rain delay in SunTrust Park history led to a postponement of Thursday's series finale.
Play was halted with the Mets holding a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning. However, everything that occurred before a one-hour, 59-minute rain delay essentially didn't happen in terms of official results. The game will be made up in its entirety at a to-be-determined date later this season.
As the Mets chased Bartolo Colon after just four innings in their 16-5 win on Wednesday night, they forced the Braves to use five different relievers, including long man Josh Collmenter.
"It kind of gives the bullpen a day to breathe," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "We have three more games before the next off-day. Obviously, you want to play them, and you want to win against them, but we wouldn't have even gotten four innings out of the starter today because when the rain delay ended, we'd have had to go to the bullpen. All those guys that pitched last night were going to have to go again."
Minutes before the delay, Jay Bruce had given the Mets a lead with a two-run home run off Jaime Garcia. The only run the Braves tallied came courtesy of the back-to-back doubles by Brandon Phillips and Freddie Freeman against Mets starter Zack Wheeler.
Wheeler, a Georgia native, mused: "It is Atlanta -- it does rain a lot." But Mets manager Terry Collins was less at peace with waiting out a nearly two-hour delay before learning of the postponement. Heavy rain had been in the forecast throughout the day, and the two teams would have had to play five innings in a little more than an hour to have gained an official game before the rain delay began at 8:44 p.m. ET.
"I have too much respect for the people in Atlanta to say much," Collins said.
The rainout will not affect New York's rotation. Rafael Montero is still scheduled to pitch Friday night against the Marlins, though with heavy rain in the forecast throughout the tri-state area, that game could be in jeopardy as well. If the Mets don't play, they will skip Montero, keeping everyone else on their regular turn.
All guests holding a paid individual ticket for Thursday's game may exchange it for a ticket of equal dollar value to any remaining 2017 regular-season Braves home game, including the rescheduled date. Mobile tickets will remain available in the MLB.com Ballpark app until the rescheduled date.
Guests can begin exchanging their tickets on Friday at any SunTrust Park ticket window, or by mail. All up-to-date information will be available at braves.com/rainout. If the tickets were purchased through Stubhub, they must be exchanged directly through Stubhub.