CLEVELAND — The Indians and Mariners wound up all wet again Sunday at Progressive Field.
For the second straight day rain postponed a game between the American League rivals, with no official makeup date set for either of the final two games of a scheduled three-game series.
This time around, the poor weather made for a bizarre occurrence. The Indians actually took the field to begin the game, then were sent off again without Indians starter Josh Tomlin ever throwing a pitch.
The scheduled 1:05 start had been delayed 45 minutes before former Indians pitcher Len Barker threw out the ceremonial first pitch in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of his perfect game at Municipal Stadium.
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Cleveland took the field to light rain, but as Tomlin warmed up a downpour arrived with heavy winds, and umpires called for the tarp. The teams waited out another hour-plus delay before the game was called.
“The weather was so unpredictable,” said Indians manager Manny Acta. “Once we were ready to start, (the rain) got a little harder. That’s no condition to start a ballgame.
“Basically, (the bad weather) was going to be there the whole day.”
Acta said the players’ safety was the main concern in deciding not to play.
“It’s one thing to sit in the dugout and manage a game or sit in the stands with a poncho and watch a ballgame,” he said. “But these guys have to go out and play on the field. It’s been wet since yesterday. We don’t want to put anybody at risk.”
The weather not only wreaked havoc on Progressive Field, it has shaken up the schedule.
Though nothing is official, Saturday’s rainout is expected to be made up as part of a doubleheader during the Mariners’ trip through Cleveland on Aug. 22-24. Sunday’s postponed game is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 19, an open date for both clubs.
The Indians already have a doubleheader scheduled with the Twins on July 18 from a postponed game in Minnesota on April 22.
“You want to play,” Acta said. “You don’t want to be playing all these doubleheaders late in the season.”
The rain also stole Cleveland’s momentum from a walk-off win in the series opener Friday night, with Travis Hafner belting a two-run home run in the ninth inning of a 5-4 win.
It was the Indians’ first victory at Progressive Field since Tampa Bay snapped their 14-game home winning streak Wednesday, then beat them again the following day.
“It feels like it was ages ago,” Acta said of Friday’s dramatic win. “We really wanted to use that energy from that walk-off home run. It’s too bad. It seems like it was a long time ago that Travis hit that home run.”
The Mariners are no strangers to weird weather in Cleveland. They were the Indians’ opponent during a snowed-out game at Progressive Field in 2007 — the same season snow forced Cleveland to move a series with the Angels to Milwaukee’s Miller Park.
Eric Wedge, now Seattle manager, managed the Indians in that game, while former Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove was in charge of the Mariners.
“I’ve seen a little bit of everything (here),” Wedge said. “It’s tough here with the weather. It’s always been tough.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
