McCullers slams Rangers for refusing to swap series

[August 30, 2017]  (The Sports Xchange) - Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers expressed his displeasure with the Texas Rangers via social media after the teams failed to agree to a scenario in which this week's games would be played in Arlington, Texas.

Instead, the Lone Star State teams will travel to Florida and play their upcoming series at neutral Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg with Houston enduring historic flooding from now-Tropical Storm Harvey.

Astros president Reid Ryan told reporters that the Rangers declined a proposed swap of dates that would have Houston host a series initially scheduled for Arlington in late September.

McCullers provided his own take on Twitter.

"Classy as always, should be absolutely ashamed," McCullers posted. "Greed never takes off days, apparently. Stay strong #Htown! We hope to be home soon"

Ryan offered the following comment shortly after Major League Baseball announced the relocation of the series, which starts Tuesday:

"We went to the Rangers and said, 'Hey let's switch series. You guys have our home series. We'll take your home series,'" Ryan said.

"They rejected that and didn't want to do that. The Rangers wanted us to play the next three days at their place, but they did not want to trade series with us. They wanted all six of our games at their park."

Texas general manager Jon Daniels told reporters that the Rangers had concerns for their fans who had purchased tickets to the Sept. 25-27 series.

Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) pitches in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Had Texas agreed to the swap, the team would have been on the road for four the last five series of the season from Sept. 15-27.

"We didn't feel it was right to give our fans 24 hours notice that their tickets in late September were now good this week," Daniels said.

"We were willing to play this series anywhere the Astros and MLB wanted, including here in Arlington."

Daniels, however, said that the Rangers were not "looking for a competitive advantage."

The Astros flew from Orange County to Dallas on Sunday night after they concluded their series finale against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim.

The Rangers flew to Dallas after they ended their series against the Oakland Athletics on Sunday. Both teams had an off day Monday.

(Editing by Andrew Both)

[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.