Mets game against Marlins suspended due to rain; Marcus Stroman voices frustration game was started

Well that was short-lived.

The Mets started their game against the Marlins at exactly 1:10 p.m. Sunday. Seven minutes later, umpires waved players off the field because of the rain, with stadium crews rushing to put the tarp back on. It wasn’t until two hours and ten minutes later that the game was officially called.

An eruption of boos emanated from the crowd that chose to brave the cold and wet for some Sunday afternoon baseball, as players went back into their respective dugouts when the game was initially paused.

It’s not like the weather ever really improved — a steady stream of drizzle, to light rain, to slightly heavier light rain and back again. The forecast Luis Rojas and the Mets were given before first pitch said the forecast called for a window of just mist-like rain to light rain. And the team believed as much. What actually happened wasn’t what they had anticipated.

“Obviously it didn’t turn out to be a light rain,” the Mets skipper said. “It was more steady and was heavier than what the forecast gave us.”

It was after Marcus Stroman, who was making his second turn through the rotation, got to his third Marlins batter, Jesus Aguilar, that the game was paused.

“This game should have never been started,” Stroman tweeted after going back into the clubhouse. “Not smart at all. Those conditions put everyone at risk. Beyond happy no players on either side were injured. Hate that I have to wait another 5 days to pitch again. That’s a miserable feeling. However, #LFGM each and every day! @Mets”

Rojas said he would wait to see how Stroman felt before determining whether his next start would be, whether through his next usual turn through the rotation or earlier.

Stroman was off to a decent start for as much as nine pitches, four for strikes, can tell. He allowed a single to Corey Dickerson, but Michael Conforto helped ensure a second runner, Starling Marte, didn’t make his way onto the basepaths when he chased down a flyout, with rain pelting his face the whole way.

But the rain was obviously an issue, especially for Stroman. The righty started feeling like he couldn’t control his pitches and he even motioned, showing the ball in his hand, that he was having trouble keeping a grip on the ball. Home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn went to switch out some balls and tossed a new one to Stroman to feel out before the game was inevitably put on hold.

Rojas said after the game was suspended that Stroman wasn’t opposed to playing and trusted the information the team had been given of the weather.

“Stro is outspoken, you know, open talking and you know he says what he feels and he did not share anything this morning,” Rojas said. “He gets ready to compete. He was doing his routine, was just waiting for the communication whether we’re going to start on time or not.”

As the delay neared the two-hour mark, clubhouse staff started packing up the coolers and other items from the dugout and the Marlins cleaned out their stuff from the visitor’s bullpen. But fans remained, some still sticking it out in their seats, others hiding near the walkways by the concession stands, while no official word was given.

The same fans who booed, started to cheer when an official announcement came over the PA system with the game’s status.

“I haven’t been to a baseball game in two years and I come to this s---,” one fan said as he got up from his seat.

The game was scheduled to resume on Aug. 31 as the first game of a doubleheader at 1:10 p.m. and the game originally scheduled for that day will run at 7:10 p.m.

The Mets host the Phillies in the first of a four-game series starting Monday.