All he had to do was step outside Great American Ball Park on Thursday to get a taste of the rainy Pacific Northwest. The deluge that flooded the dugouts Monday and even ruined the carpet in the dressing room to the side of the visitor’s dugout returned with a vengeance, causing the postponement of the final game of the four-game series against the Giants.
The Reds and Giants were prepared to wait out the rain because the Giants don’t play again in Cincinnati, and finding a makeup date could be a problem. The Reds and Giants have one common off day the rest of the season, Aug. 29, not counting the All-Star break.
But at 3:30 p.m., after a two-hour, 21-minute delay, the game was postponed. It’s the seventh postponement in 11 seasons at Great American Ball Park.
No makeup date has been announced. The Reds will host the Mariners at 7:10 p.m. tonight with the pitching schedule unchanged. Mike Leake (7-3, 2.52 ERA) gets the start tonight.
Familiar face: Former Red Aaron Harang (3-7, 5.08) will be on the mound today for the Mariners in the first game of the three-game series.
Harang has bounced around the big leagues since leaving the Reds after the 2010 season. He pitched in San Diego in 2011 and Los Angeles in 2012 before he was traded to the Rockies on April 6. Five days later, he was traded to the Mariners.
Harang struggled in April with a 11.37 ERA in three starts, but he had a 3.57 ERA in six starts in June.
“I like Harang,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “He was a big part of us rebuilding this. I’m sure people will like seeing him. We’ve got to beat him.”
Bad history: The Mariners were 37-47 through Wednesday and trailed Oakland by 10½ games in the American League West.
The Reds are 1-8 all-time against Seattle. They were swept in 2002 and 2010 and won one of three games in 2007. That’s Cincinnati’s worst record percentage-wise (.111) against any team in either league.
Following Homer: Tony Cingrani did a decent job Wednesday night, giving up two runs in 5 2/3 innings in the Reds' 3-2, 11-inning victory, but it would have been hard to top what Homer Bailey did the night before in no-hitting the Giants 3-0.
Cingrani’s no-hit bid ended with one out in the first.
“I tried to throw (a no-hitter),” Cingrani said, “but it didn’t end up that way.”
Cingrani has bounced from the starting rotation to the bullpen and back because of Johnny Cueto’s injury. He may be a fixture in the rotation for weeks to come with Cueto’s latest setback.
“It’s not tough mentally,” Cingrani said. “It’s what we do for a living. That’s what they wanted me to do, so that’s what I’ll do.”
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