Rain postpones Game 2 of ALCS

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Game 2 of the AL Championship Series between the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers has been postponed due to inclement weather, field conditions and a forecast for even more weather later Sunday night.

The game will be played at 4:19 p.m. ET on Monday afternoon.

Derek Holland will pitch Monday for the Rangers against Max Scherzer, who gets an extra day after his 1 1/3 innings of relief in the Tigers' AL Division Series clincher Thursday night against the New York Yankees.

Rangers groundskeeper Dennis Klein said his crew will have the field ready to go in time for Monday's game and they are working all day Sunday to be sure it can handle the additional moisture. They sealed the dirt in the infield after Saturday night's game in anticipation of more rain.

"Our outfield drains very well," Klein said. "We'll be ready. All we can do is work hard and make sure the field is in the best shape it can be given the moisture."

The rainout means the series loses its first off day on Monday, with Games 3, 4 and 5, if necessary, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Detroit.

One edge for the Rangers is that the day off on Sunday means reliever Alexi Ogando, who pitched two innings in Game 1, can now pitch in Game 2. Manager Ron Washington said he would not have used him in Game 2 otherwise.

"We felt with the forecast that we had that we didn't want to experience what we did last night. ... With the forecast for this evening, it appears that it's going to be a duplication of what we saw," Rangers president Nolan Ryan said Sunday. "The one thing we're concerned about is the integrity of the game and not put either team in a situation where there is a possibility the elements could affect the outcome of the game."

Ryan sounded a bit like a meteorologist, describing "a disturbance out in West Texas" and a "south-to-north line" of storms. He was asked if he could talk about the weather in front of a map, like a weatherman on TV.

"You know, if this job doesn't work out maybe they could use somebody," Ryan quipped.

At 6:45 p.m. CDT, the scheduled first pitch Sunday, there were mostly overcast skies, though the sun had tried to peek through the clouds just before then. There was rain to the East but none at Rangers Ballpark, where the tarp covered the field. The only water visible were a few puddles on the warning track against the wall after the field had been inundated by heavy rains overnight.

The rain delays Saturday night were the first at Rangers Ballpark since May 24. This season was played during one of the hottest and driest summers in North Texas, including 27 games when the temperature was 100 degrees or more at first pitch.

Klein said the crew will work on the infield Sunday afternoon and then put some Diamond Pro on as they prepare for rain overnight. He expects some fog in the morning, but then clearing conditions on Monday.

"You can't control the weather, so we'll take the day off and play when we can," second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "Nothing you can do about Mother Nature. We'll work around it and both teams will try to do their best. We'll get this series in eventually."

For the Rangers, the weather means a day at home.

"That's a benefit," Kinsler said. "Everyone was happy with the way they handled it last night. Everybody is happy with the way they handled it today. We don't want another situation like last night where we're running into two or three delays and we're ruining the flow of the game, I guess you could say. Coming in today, getting the day off is no big deal. Just pushes everything back."

Texas beat Detroit 3-2 in Saturday night's opener, a game delayed twice by rain in the top of the fifth inning, first for 41 minutes and then for 1:09.

"I think it's one of those days," the Tigers' Ryan Raburn said. "That's part of the game, the elements you have to deal with. I don't think we're bothered by it too much. We just lose that off day coming up on Monday."

After the postponement, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Magglio Ordonez will miss the rest of the postseason because he re-fractured his right ankle, which was surgically repaired in July 2010. He's the second Detroit Tigers outfielder out of the ALCS.

Leyland said Ordonez is having problems with the right ankle that he broke last season, an injury that caused him to miss more than a month this summer.

Ordonez came out of Saturday's opener after the second of two rain delays in the top of the fifth inning. Ordonez drew a walk during a short resumption of play between the delays and was replaced by a pinch-runner when the game resumed for good.

Delmon Young was taken off the roster Saturday because of an oblique injury.

Catcher Mike Napoli said his plan is to watch NFL games all day and relax.

"I'll watch my fantasy team take charge and win, as usual," Napoli said.

The schedule means that Napoli could catch four straight games, something he didn't do during the regular season because of splitting time with Yorvit Torrealba. Washington said that he does not plan on altering his catching plan despite the four consecutive games.

"I can do it," Napoli said.

Richard Durrett covers the Rangers for ESPNDallas.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Richard Durrett

ESPNDallas.com

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Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.