Tuesday's rainout sets up day-night doubleheader

OAKLAND -- A persistent heavy rain washed away Tuesday night's contest between the A's and Indians at the Oakland Coliseum, the first rainout at the park since May 5, 1998.

The game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader Wednesday, with games scheduled for 12:35 p.m. and 6 p.m. PT in Oakland.

Rain had threatened to wipe out Monday's season opener between the two clubs, but cleared for an on-time start. However, Tuesday's downpour never abated, and the field was very much unplayable 90 minutes before game time, when the postponement announcement was made.

"It looks like it's going to rain all the way up to game time at the best-case scenario, then you have to get the field ready and there's a small window," said manager Bob Melvin. "More than anything, it just doesn't look like we'd have time to get it in.

"We almost had it last night, got through it and thought we'd have a chance to get this in, but that's not the case."

Tuesday's scheduled A's starter, Scott Kazmir, will start the 12:35 p.m. game. But the starter for the 6 p.m. game has yet to be announced. Melvin said it will not be Jesse Chavez, who was originally slated to go Wednesday. The right-hander will be pushed back to Thursday, moving Dan Straily to Friday and Tommy Milone to Saturday.

The Indians will stick with right-handers Corey Kluber and Zach McAllister, who were in line to pitch the second and third games of the series, anyway.

"It won't be Jesse," said Melvin, "because then we would have an issue on Sunday. He's fine."

In a split doubleheader, teams are allowed to employ a 26th man for the second game, and it's likely the A's dip into Triple-A Sacramento's roster for their second starter. Right-hander Josh Lindblom is a strong possibility for the job. Arnold Leon is another option.

As for the weather, "it's supposed to be good tomorrow," Melvin said.

"It's really no big deal," said Kazmir, who played catch on the concourse to get some work in Tuesday. "I kinda like day games, though. Just throughout my career, I've liked it. Get up in the morning and get right to it instead of thinking about it the whole day before you go to the field. Just treat it like any other start. Just one extra day.

"It'll be a lot warmer, a lot dryer, so I'm happy about that."

Tuesday's game tickets are now valid for entry to the 6 p.m. Wednesday game, and tickets printed with Wednesday's date will continue to be valid for the 12:35 p.m. contest. Fans attending the afternoon game will have to buy an additional ticket for admission to the 6 p.m. game.