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Sox had few options on scheduling

The Red Sox had almost no options in rescheduling tonight’s game.

It is Milwaukee’s only trip to Boston. Today’s game is locked in at 3:55 p.m. because it is a nationally televised Fox game. Tomorrow was not a possibility for separate admission games because rules dictate that no game can begin after 5 p.m. to avoid conflict with ESPN’s Sunday night national telecast. The only way to play two on Sunday would be as a single-admission doubleheader, a situation that would cost the team much money.

As it is, the situation is touchy. If the first game tomorrow goes long, the second game might not start at 8:35, as planned. Workers need about 45 minutes to an hour to clean up sufficiently after a game, said John Blake, the team’s vice president for media relations.

Thus, if the opener tomorrow goes four hours and does not end until 8 p.m. it likely will be closer to 9 p.m. before the second game can begin. If it goes even longer, fans will simply be asked to wait outside, after the first game ends, to allow workers to do some cleaning.

Tickets for tonight’s game will be used for the 8:35 game tomorrow.

The Sox have been placed in a similar situation once before, in May of 2005. They split that doubleheader with Seattle. The Mariners won the nightcap 6-4 on a grandslam by Richie Sexon off Cla Meredith.

Posted by Paul Kenyon  at 9:37 PM to Projo Sox Crawl | Permalink