But there was a baseball game last night, one that the Phillies felt so bad about playing that they offered anybody holding a ticket - the few thousand who braved the conditions and the 40 thousand-plus who did not show - a free ticket to one of a selection of regular-season games next season.
In the end, though, the rain tapered off to a mist, and the Phillies rattled off their latest victory, beating Atlanta, 6-3, to take a commanding 9 1/2-game division lead.
The victory, a true team effort featuring big hits by Raul Ibanez and Ryan Howard and a solid performance from a makeshift back of the bullpen, lowered the Phillies' "magic number" to 14. Any combination of 14 wins and Braves losses over the last 24 games will clinch a fifth straight NL East title for the Phillies.
Tonight, the Phils will go for the sweep against righthander Brandon Beachy before turning their attention toward a four-game series in Milwaukee that has the potential to give them a stranglehold on homefield advantage throughout the postseason - as well as the potential to allow the Brewers to creep to within 2 1/2-games of them.
First, though, last night's game: It started 1 hour, 53 minutes late after the day's steady rain tapered off. A vast minority of the announced crowd of 44,781 - yes, it was a sellout, the 193rd straight - showed up. Those who did were treated to a solid, all-around showing by the home team, which improved to 90-48, a 105-win pace. The Phillies have won at least 90 games four seasons in a row for the first time in franchise history.
Chase Utley gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead with his 10th home run, a solo shot off Tim Hudson in the first inning. Ibanez followed in the second with a single that dropped into centerfield and scored Howard.
