Philadelphia, PA – The Philadelphia Phillies became the first team to reschedule a baseball game Thursday as Hurricane Irene headed for what could be a direct hit on the Northeast this weekend.
Sunday's scheduled afternoon game with the Florida Marlins was moved up to Saturday, when the teams will play a day-night doubleheader starting at 1:05 p.m. local time.
The regularly-scheduled night game will still be held at 7:05 p.m., the Phillies said.
The game was moved because of the threat of severe weather from Irene, which could be a category 2 hurricane by the time it tracks near the zone where it would impact MLB games.
The Yankees and Orioles are already scheduled to have a doubleheader in Baltimore on Saturday as part of a five-game series, placing their game Sunday in jeopardy.
Other cities that could be impacted include New York, where the Mets and Braves are scheduled to play; and Boston, where the Red Sox are set to host the A's.
MLB commissioner Bud Selig told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that contingency plans have been discussed.
"The weather reports are all different, so we'll see what path it takes," Selig told the paper. "But we are trying to make as many contingency plans as we can. We're trying to figure out what we could do in case we have the one really bad day of rain."
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