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Thursday night's Diamondbacks-Seattle Mariners spring training game at Peoria Sports Complex was canceled due to soggy field conditions.
The game was called around 35 minutes before first pitch at 6:40 p.m., just after Mariners manager Dan Wilson walked into the visiting clubhouse to speak with Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo. It had rained in Peoria for at least a couple of hours nonstop late in the afternoon, but the rain let up about an hour before the game and the tarp covering the field was removed.
As good a sign as that was that baseball would be played, the game was called off. It was the second rainout of a Diamondbacks spring training game this month, including last Friday's cancellation of the game at Tempe Diablo Stadium against the Angels.
There were some groans of disappointment in the clubhouse. Most players took the team bus from Salt River Fields to Peoria, less than an hour's drive, but some drove on their own. Regulars in the lineup Thursday included catcher Gabriel Moreno, first baseman Josh Naylor and outfielders Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jake McCarthy.
"You get on the bus and you come this way ... and you're expecting to play," Lovullo said. "So you start to get your mind on what your job is and what you're getting ready to do. I do, too, I think we all are trying to get into the zone a little bit. And you're here and it's not raining.
"You're just 'OK, we're going.' It's always a letdown for me when you can't play a baseball game. That's what we love to do."
The dark clouds had given way to some sunset sunshine within minutes of the game being called, allowing some Diamondbacks pitchers to get in some throwing in the outfield. But soon the stadium had emptied.
"We budget for a couple of days like this," Lovullo said. "We talk about having rainy day topics to make sure we keep the guys engaged if we have a morning rained out and we have to play a game. We always budget for a couple of days.
"This is probably around the time where you can still afford a rainy day and get built up and caught up in other ways. But I think at the end of the day, we want to play. But if we can't we understand why."
Right-hander Cristian Mena, recently optioned to Triple-A, was set to start Thursday with relievers Drey Jameson, Scott McGough and Bryce Jarvis among those scheduled to pitch. Lovullo said those relief pitchers would be pushed back to Friday when the Diamondbacks play essentially three games: the major league spring training game at 1:10 p.m., the Spring Breakout prospects game at 5:10 and a Triple-A game at Salt River Fields against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The major league pitchers will appear in either the regularly scheduled game or the Triple-A game, Lovullo said.
Next game, Friday, March 14: Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez vs. Cincinnati Reds RHP Chase Petty, 1:10 p.m., Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. To be followed by Spring Breakout prospects game vs. Kansas City Royals prospects, 5:10 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks arrive in Peoria only to have second rainout of spring
Continue reading...
The game was called around 35 minutes before first pitch at 6:40 p.m., just after Mariners manager Dan Wilson walked into the visiting clubhouse to speak with Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo. It had rained in Peoria for at least a couple of hours nonstop late in the afternoon, but the rain let up about an hour before the game and the tarp covering the field was removed.
As good a sign as that was that baseball would be played, the game was called off. It was the second rainout of a Diamondbacks spring training game this month, including last Friday's cancellation of the game at Tempe Diablo Stadium against the Angels.
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There were some groans of disappointment in the clubhouse. Most players took the team bus from Salt River Fields to Peoria, less than an hour's drive, but some drove on their own. Regulars in the lineup Thursday included catcher Gabriel Moreno, first baseman Josh Naylor and outfielders Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jake McCarthy.
"You get on the bus and you come this way ... and you're expecting to play," Lovullo said. "So you start to get your mind on what your job is and what you're getting ready to do. I do, too, I think we all are trying to get into the zone a little bit. And you're here and it's not raining.
"You're just 'OK, we're going.' It's always a letdown for me when you can't play a baseball game. That's what we love to do."
The dark clouds had given way to some sunset sunshine within minutes of the game being called, allowing some Diamondbacks pitchers to get in some throwing in the outfield. But soon the stadium had emptied.
"We budget for a couple of days like this," Lovullo said. "We talk about having rainy day topics to make sure we keep the guys engaged if we have a morning rained out and we have to play a game. We always budget for a couple of days.
"This is probably around the time where you can still afford a rainy day and get built up and caught up in other ways. But I think at the end of the day, we want to play. But if we can't we understand why."
Right-hander Cristian Mena, recently optioned to Triple-A, was set to start Thursday with relievers Drey Jameson, Scott McGough and Bryce Jarvis among those scheduled to pitch. Lovullo said those relief pitchers would be pushed back to Friday when the Diamondbacks play essentially three games: the major league spring training game at 1:10 p.m., the Spring Breakout prospects game at 5:10 and a Triple-A game at Salt River Fields against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The major league pitchers will appear in either the regularly scheduled game or the Triple-A game, Lovullo said.
Next game, Friday, March 14: Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez vs. Cincinnati Reds RHP Chase Petty, 1:10 p.m., Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. To be followed by Spring Breakout prospects game vs. Kansas City Royals prospects, 5:10 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks arrive in Peoria only to have second rainout of spring
Continue reading...
