The Mets and Phillies have Friday off, which doesn’t happen much during the regular season.
These two teams opened their series Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park, with New York taking the opener 6-4. They’ll finish things up Saturday and Sunday, but Friday? That’s a different story.
The Copa America is why there’s no baseball in Philadelphia on Friday night.
Right next door at Lincoln Financial Field, Brazil and Haiti kick off at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Brazilian fanbase is massive, and they’re expected to pack downtown Philadelphia with crowds, traffic, and everything that comes with a major international soccer match.
Here’s the thing – if both games had gone on as originally planned, they would’ve started within an hour of each other. Even worse, they might’ve ended around the same time, creating a logistical nightmare in South Philly.
The city stepped in and asked MLB to move the game. Smart call.
The Mets and Phillies will resume their series Saturday at 7:15 p.m. ET, then close things out on Sunday Night Baseball at 7:20 p.m. ET.
It’s rare to see international soccer impact the MLB schedule, but when you’re talking about Brazil in a tournament setting, that’s the kind of event that can shut down a city block. The Phillies organization probably didn’t mind having their fans avoid the chaos anyway.
