Mets-Giants Rained Out; Double Dip Scheduled for Monday

Dillon Gee was supposed to take the mound for the Mets at Citi Field today, a day after New York walked off with a wild win thanks to a Buster Posey throwing error, but mother nature wasn’t having it. Rain came down all day in the tri-state area today, and umpires called the game about an hour before the scheduled first pitch was supposed to happen at 1:10pm. A single-admission doubleheader is set to kick off tomorrow afternoon at 4:10pm.

In an effort to keep the rotation in order and giving the staff their proper rest, Miguel Batista will step in to make a spot start in game one against Tim Lincecum, followed by Dillon Gee in the nightcap, opposite of Madison Bumgarner. Doing so allows the entire starting staff to stay on their regular rest. This was a strategic move by Terry Collins to give his staff an extra blow; even though Santana is ready to get back on the mound and erase his poor start in Atlanta, he is in favor of Terry’s decision. Fans feel he’s back to normal, but Santana is still recovering, building up his shoulder in order to go deeper into games on regular rest, which he will do for the first time on April 29th. For now, instead of pitching the final game against the Giants, he’s able to kick off their first series against the Marlins, as well as Jose Reyes‘ homecoming to Citi Field.

There wasn’t much news coming out of Flushing today with the washout, but Terry Collins did reaffirm his belief in Frank Francisco being the team’s closer, one day after pulling him out of the game quick in a save situation. When asked about his left knee that had been giving him issues while the team was in camp down at Port St. Lucie, Francisco assured his manager that it is not bothering him, and he is just not pitching well right now. The Mets have a good insurance plan with Jon Rauch due to his significant closing experience and his effective outings to start the season, but for now, Alderson and the front office invested in Francisco being the team’s closer, and he will stay in that role until further notice.

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