With the city of Houston still reeling from widespread flooding and continued rain in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the Astros' series against the Texas Rangers this week has been moved to Florida.
The Astros and Rangers will play their three-game series at the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., Major League Baseball announced Monday. The league and its players' union also announced a joint donation of $1 million to hurricane relief efforts in Houston.
The Astros-Rangers series is scheduled Tuesday through Thursday. The league said no decision had been made about where the Astros' weekend series against the New York Mets would take place, although there have been discussions about whether to move those games from Houston's Minute Maid Park to Tropicana Field or the Mets' home of Citi Field.
"Talking about game situations is so hollow with people down the street from Minute Maid losing their cars, losing their lives _ their homes are in jeopardy," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Sunday at Angel Stadium. "There is an emptiness in the thought we would play in Houston."
The Astros concluded a series in Anaheim on Sunday, but they flew to Dallas rather than returning to Houston. If the Mets series is moved to New York, the Astros would play 19 consecutive games away from Houston _ the first three and last three in Anaheim.
Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals, who grew up in suburban Houston, said on Twitter on Monday that he would donate $10,000 for every home run he hits the rest of the season "to help aid the relief efforts in Houston."
This is not the first time the league has moved a series out of town for weather-related reasons. In 2007, when Cleveland was blanketed with relentless snow, the league moved a three-game series between the Angels and Indians to Milwaukee's Miller Park. Every seat sold for $10.
