Red Sox, Angels rained out, will play two Monday

[July 20, 2015]  ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The first rainout at Angel Stadium in 20 years narrowed the Los Angeles Angels' lead in the American League West on Sunday night.

The Angels' game against the Boston Red Sox was postponed until 2 p.m. PDT on Monday as part of a split doubleheader. The regularly scheduled contest will start at 7 p.m.

With the Angels getting an unexpected day off, the second-place Houston Astros gained half a game by virtue of their 10-0 rout of the Texas Rangers. The Astros now trail the Angels by one game.

"I've been out here since 1980, and I've never seen it rain here in July. Never," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as a catcher in 1980.

The rainout was the 11th in the stadium's history and the first since June 16, 1995, when the Angels were scheduled to play the Chicago White Sox.

Left-hander Hector Santiago was scheduled to make his first start since representing the Angels at Tuesday night's All-Star Game. He was due to face Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez. Both will pitch Monday's first game.
 

In the second game, Boston will send right-handed knuckleball specialist Steven Wright against Los Angeles left-hander Andrew Heaney. Both will take their normal turns in the rotation.

"We come in tomorrow ready to have a full day of baseball," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "There was so much standing water in the outfield, even last night, and no drainage in the outfield here that, honestly, I don't think playing tonight was ever a likely situation."

Most of the Saturday night game was played in light showers. The Angels won 3-0.

About 40 minutes before the scheduled 5:05 p.m. start time Sunday, the stadium's grounds crew placed a tarp over the infield. Officials announced they would try to start the game at 6 p.m., then said they would wait until 7:15 p.m. to make a decision after examining the field.

Members of the grounds crew swept and squeegeed water toward the outfield warning track for about 45 minutes before officials announced the cancellation at roughly 7:30 p.m.

"I guess you never really know how well your drainage system works until you get enough water," Scioscia said. "There's so much standing water in that outfield that just has nowhere to go. It's going to be like that all night tonight. It'll probably be like that tomorrow morning."

No batting practice on the field will take place before Monday's first game to allow for field preparation. Instead, batting practice will take place in indoor cages.

NOTES: Boston RHP Clay Buchholz will see Dr. James Andrews to get a second opinion Wednesday on his strained flexor tendon. Buchholz has been on the disabled list since July 10. ... Red Sox LHP Brian Johnson, originally scheduled to make his major league debut Monday night, will have his start postponed to Tuesday night in Houston against the Astros. ... Red Sox DH David Ortiz needs seven RBIs to pass Hall of Famer Al Kaline and move into 40th place all-time. ... Los Angeles DH Albert Pujols needs two extra-base hits to pass Hall of Famer Ty Cobb and three home runs to pass Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt in career totals for each category. Pujols is ranked 13th all-time with 1,135 extra-base hits and 16th with 546 homers.

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.