The last time the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves got together in April, they sat through an hours-long rain delay. Now, the two bitter NL East rivals won't even get that far on Wednesday, as Game 2 of their three-game series at Citizens Bank Park has already been postponed thanks to rain.
With the game originally scheduled for a 6:45 p.m. ET first pitch, the Phillies were hoping to secure their 14th series win of the season after taking Tuesday's series opener. They'll have to wait until Thursday, when the teams will play a split day/night doubleheader.
Phillies vs. Braves Rainout: Full details, weather forecast, schedule changes for postponed game
For anyone who had been looking at the forecast for this evening, it didn't come as a big surprise when the Phillies made the official announcement on their social media accounts. With rain all day and through the evening, a delay would have been inevitable if they had tried to go ahead with the game tonight.
Due to inclement weather, tonight’s game between the Phillies and the Atlanta Braves has been postponed.
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 28, 2025
Visit https://t.co/eaC6Z32J64 for more info. pic.twitter.com/pFHbwUewYB
They were scheduled to play the series finale on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. ET, and that will still happen. With a split day/night doubleheader on deck, today's game has been moved to tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. ET.
This series marks the second meeting between the Phillies and Braves this season, so there's still another series to play in Philadelphia later in the year. The good news is that the wet weather should move out of the Philly area overnight, with Thursday's forecast looking much better for baseball.
Phillies vs. Braves Rainout: NL East rivals clash for second series this season
The Phillies, who began the series 34-19, grabbed their 35th win of the year on Tuesday and have the best record in baseball. The Braves came into the series with a 25-27 record, and the Phillies handed them their 28th loss of the season. The tense 2-0 win extended the Phillies' lead over the third-place Braves to 9.5 games in the division.
Lefty Ranger Suárez impressed for a fourth straight start, going six scoreless innings. It was his fourth quality start and his third shutout, and the Phils needed it after losing Bryce Harper in the first inning after he was hit in the right elbow by a Spencer Strider fastball. Luckily, Harper's X-rays came back negative, although he wasn't in the Phillies' lineup on Wednesday.
Wednesday's pitching matchup was supposed to feature Phillies' veteran ace Zack Wheeler up against 22-year-old right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver. The Phillies announced that Wheeler will now start the second game on Thursday, setting up a battle with Atlanta's Chris Sale, according to MLB.com's Paul Casella. Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez will now start for the Phillies in the afternoon game against Smith-Shawver.
One silver lining of tonight's Braves-Phillies postponement, is we now have quite a showdown for Game 2 on Thursday:
— Paul Casella (@Paul_CasellaMLB) May 28, 2025
Chris Sale (2024 NL Cy Young winner)
vs.
Zack Wheeler (2024 NL Cy Young runner-up)
It'll be Smith-Shawver vs. Sanchez in Game 1.
While we certainly would have liked to see these two NL East rivals back on the field tonight, we'll be okay waiting for better weather. Especially if it means getting a double dose of this always fun rivalry on Thursday.