Why was the Mariners game postponed today?

UPDATED: APRIL 6, 2022 AT 8:30 AM

Mariners RF Mitch Haniger takes the field before an Oct. 2, 2021 game against the Angels. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

The first game of the highly-anticipated 2022 Seattle Mariners season will have to wait an extra day.

Servais: Robbie Ray perfect example of what M’s preach to pitchers

The Mariners’ opening day matchup against the Minnesota Twins has been moved from Thursday afternoon to 1:10 p.m. Friday due to inclement weather in the forecast in Minneapolis.

The game will air live on Seattle Sports 710 AM, as well as streaming through SeattleSports.com and the Seattle Sports mobile app for those within our terrestrial radio range. Coverage will begin at noon Friday with the pregame show.

Friday’s game will mark the official Mariners debut of several key players, including new ace and reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, All-Star trade acquisitions Jesse Winker, Adam Frazier and Eugenio Suárez, and Baseball America’s No. 2 overall prospect Julio Rodríguez.

The Mariners are coming off their first 90-win season since 2003 and are expected to make a serious run at ending their playoff drought that extends back to 2002.

The Twins are set to start rookie Joe Ryan, MLB Pipeline’s No. 97 overall prospect, in the opener.

The four-game series will go through Monday, with the Mariners then travelling to Chicago for a three-game set against the White Sox before they return to T-Mobile Park for their home-opening series against the Houston Astros starting Friday, April 15.

All Mariners games will be carried live on Seattle Sports 710 AM, with coverage starting roughly an hour before with the pregame show.

Drayer: Mariners asked Julio Rodríguez to “light it up” – now “it’s on”

Follow @BrentStecker

Categories: MLB

| On

Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

The series-opening game between the Seattle Mariners and host Washington Nationals was postponed because of expected severe weather Tuesday night.

The clubs instead will play a split doubleheader Wednesday. The teams were slated for a 12:05 p.m. ET game on Wednesday; now that will be followed by a 6:05 p.m. start for the second game.

The start of Tuesday’s game was originally delayed by some pregame rain, which eventually passed. But the threat of incoming nasty weather prompted the Nationals to seek permission from Major League Baseball to nix playing at all.

As an interleague series, this is the Mariners’ only scheduled visit to Washington this season.

Josiah Gray (7-5, 4.14 ERA) was announced as the Nationals’ starter for the first game of Wednesday’s twin bill, and Erick Fedde (5-6, 5.01) will start the second game. The Mariners had not yet announced pitching plans for Wednesday.

–Field Level Media

We’ve detected that JavaScript is disabled in this browser. Please enable JavaScript or switch to a supported browser to continue using twitter.com. You can see a list of supported browsers in our Help Center.

Help Center

Jeff Chiu

Despite no rain falling over O.co Coliseum in Oakland, the game between the Athletics and Mariners was postponed due to poor field conditions. The Athletics tweeted the news:

According to DonBest.com, the game won't be made up during what supposed to be a four-game series:

The reason for the postponement was human error. MLB.com's Greg Johns explains:

So, we have one of the more unique postponements we'll ever see, but it is a postponement nonetheless.

In fact, the field was so bad, Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon wasn't even sure they'd be able to play tomorrow. Johns tweeted that information:

The Mariners would appear to be bad luck for the O.co. It was last season following a game between Oakland and Seattle when the outdated stadium was backed up with raw sewage.

If the game is played tomorrow, Johns gives us the pitching matchup:

Chris Young was scheduled to get the start for the Mariners on Friday, but it appears the plan is to skip his turn in the rotation.

The series between the division rivals began on Thursday in thrilling fashion, as the A's handed the Mariners their first loss of the season with a 3-2 victory in the 12th on a Coco Crisp home run.

At the time of the postponement, the Mariners sat in first in the American League West at 3-1. The A's were a game behind at 2-1.

ESPN News ServicesApr 6, 20221 Minute Read

The Opening Day game between the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins has been postponed because of inclement weather in the forecast Thursday in Minneapolis.

The game has been rescheduled to Friday at 4:10 p.m. ET. The forecast Thursday calls for a rain-snow mix and cold conditions.

Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray will make his debut for the Mariners, and rookie Joe Ryan will start for the Twins.

Ryan, who is 25 and was acquired last July in the trade that sent Nelson Cruz to the Rays, will be the first rookie to start for the Twins on Opening Day since Tom Hall in 1969. The right-hander was a member of the U.S. team that won a silver medal at last summer's Olympics.

The game also will mark the debuts of several other high-profile players with new teams.

Newcomers Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suarez and highly touted rookie outfielder Julio Rodriguez are expected to make their Mariners debuts, while All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa and slugging catcher Gary Sanchez will play their first game with the Twins.

Thursday's opener between the Red Sox and Yankees also was postponed because of inclement weather in New York.

Seven games remained on Thursday's schedule: Milwaukee at the Cubs, the Mets at Washington, Cleveland at Kansas City, Pittsburgh at St. Louis, Cincinnati at World Series champion Atlanta, Houston at the Angels and San Diego at Arizona.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.