Game at Oakland Cancelled, Hector Noesi DFA’d to Triple-A Tacoma

May 16, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher

(45) pitches against the New York Yankees during the second inning of a game at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Game 2 of a 4 game series was cancelled last night down at O.Co Coliseum in Oakland. There had been a major downpour earlier in the day, but the Grounds Crew had neglected to get a tarp onto the field and the conditions were too dangerous to play. Skipper Lloyd McClendon went so far as to say they were some of the worst conditions he had ever seen.

With concerns that the field may not even be ready by Saturday’s 1:05 start, the teams decided to reschedule the game to be included in a double-header when the Mariners go back to Oakland in the month of May.

Though this rescheduled game is a buzzkill– especially since I woke up at 4 am to be able to watch it– there are some benefits to it. The Mariners are forgoing Chris Young in tomorrows afternoon game and jump right back to King Felix Hernandez. Expect Young to pitch the following game, but it’s nice to get Felix in early and often against a division opponent he traditionally dominates.

Moreover, rescheduling in May means one less game against a division rival without Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijuan Walker in the rotation. Both are– ideally– expected to be in Seattle sometime mid to late April. So one more game against the A’s with better pitching sure can’t hurt the Mariners.

Noesi Designated for Assignment:

There was a general uproar during Thursday’s game when Hector Noesi came in and two pitches later blew the game in the 12th. Everyone on Twitter was semi-seriously joking that the game would end quickly once he got into the game. No one expected it to be that quick, though.

Noesi has never been able to pitch well for the Mariners. He is the butt of jokes and isn’t taken seriously by any fan.

Finally the organization listened and DFA’d Noesi– he is out of Minor League options. They chose to call up Dom Leone, a relief pitcher who, like Roenis Elias, got as high as Double-A Jackson last season.

Congrats to him and a very early Happy Felix Day! Let’s hope they get the field playable by 1.