Marlins-Brewers series moved to Milwaukee as South Florida recovers from Irma
MIAMI (AP) -- Because of Hurricane Irma, the Miami Marlins will be the home team in Milwaukee this weekend.
The Marlins' three-game series starting Friday against the Brewers has been moved from Miami to Wisconsin as South Florida recovers from the storm. The first post-Irma game at Marlins Park will instead be Monday, when the New York Mets visit to begin a three-game series.
Marlins officials didn't want to strain the resources of police and fire rescue crews to work the Brewers games.
"Marlins Park stood ready to host the games, but we all agreed that burdening public service resources was not the proper course of action," team president David Samson said in a statement. "All of our employees, as well as our entire community, have other needs that must take a priority."
Major League Baseball agreed the decision was in the best interests of South Florida, Samson said. The switch means three extra games at Miller Park for the Brewers, who are competing for a National League playoff berth.
"It works out certainly good for us," manager Craig Counsell said. "I hope it turns out to be an advantage, I'm not going to lie to you."
The Marlins are out of contention, and the only drama left in their season is Giancarlo Stanton's bid for 60 homers. The scheduling change means their current trip will become a three-city, 10-game swing.
"It's part of being in the big leagues," second baseman Dee Gordon said. "And I don't think that any of us would trade that for a regular job."
In anticipation of Irma, family members accompanied the team on its trip, and they're expected to go to Milwaukee. The first two stops on the trip have been Atlanta and Philadelphia.
"Both cities have been really good to our families," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "There were passes to parks and the aquarium and things like that. Everyone has been really accommodating."
Games in Milwaukee will be at 7:10 p.m. CDT Friday, 6:10 p.m. Saturday and 1:10 p.m. Sunday, with the Brewers batting in the top of the inning. Because of staffing issues for concessions and security, capacity will be 10,000 on Friday, and about 23,000 for the other games.
"You don't generally expect to have on short notice three home games," Brewers chief operating officer Rick Schlesinger said. "We had to make a lot of calls and make sure we could staff it."
The series is the third in the majors to switch sites in recent weeks because of hurricanes. When Harvey hit Texas, the Houston Astros' three-game home series against the Texas Rangers was moved to Tampa Bay's ballpark. Irma forced the Rays to play a home series this week against the New York Yankees in the Mets' ballpark.
