All-Star aces Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber and Gerrit Cole all got early showers Friday.
So did many other players after six games were rained out, the most Major League Baseball postponements in a day because of inclement weather since 2018.
Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium and Camden Yards were among the ballparks where games were wiped out. And there’s no guarantee the rain will go away this weekend, either.
The last time there were a half-dozen games called off because of weather was April 15, 2018, when snow, sleet, wind and rain conspired to close ballparks. Those were the most since Sept. 12, 2008, when there also were six — Hurricane Ike battering the Gulf Coast contributed to those postponements.
Heavy rain in the East Coast and out in Ohio and Illinois dampened this weekend’s schedule.
The rainouts: Kansas City at Baltimore, Texas at the New York Yankees, Toronto at Cleveland, Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs, New York Mets at Philadelphia and Pittsburgh at Cincinnati.
Teams playing division rivals pushed back makeup dates until late this summer, with the Pirates and Reds rescheduling for July and the Mets and Phillies until August.
Bieber and the Guardians will try to host Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays in a traditional doubleheader Saturday. Cleveland has had four home games called off by inclement weather this season and this will be its third doubleheader at Progressive Field.
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is expected to pitch Saturday in a split doubleheader against the Cubs. It’s supposed to be clear but cool at Wrigley for those games.
The Royals-Orioles and Rangers-Yankees games are scheduled to be made up as part of doubleheaders Sunday. But it’s still shaky on whether those two series will be played to completion — rain is in the forecast Saturday in Baltimore and New York.
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