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Astros Returning To Houston To Host Weekend Series Against Mets At Minute Maid Park

The Astros will "return to Houston" tonight and host the Mets in a three-game series this weekend at Minute Maid Park, according to Jake Kaplan of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. The Mets-Astros series will consist of a Saturday doubleheader and the regularly scheduled Sunday afternoon game. Playing the series at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, where the team today will conclude a three-game set with the Rangers, would have "meant a 21-day, 19-game road trip for the Astros, who begin their next road trip Sunday night to Seattle, Oakland and Anaheim" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/31). Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner in a statement said, "We feel that the Astros playing this weekend will provide a much-needed boost for our city." In DC, Dave Sheinin notes the first game of Mets-Astros was originally scheduled for tomorrow night, but Astros President Reid Ryan indicated the players "needed some time with their families before playing baseball again." By midweek, it became clear Minute Maid Park was "largely untouched by the devastation" associated with Hurricane Harvey, and the decision was "made to let the Astros return home." The team also announced it would be "providing 5,000 free tickets to first responders, volunteers and evacuees" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/31). In Ft. Worth, Stefan Stevenson reports 10,000 jerseys of Astros SS Carlos Correa that were to be "given away as a promotional item during Saturday’s game will be donated to evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 8/31). SNY's Sal Licata noted there are "more important things to do right now in the city of Houston than play a baseball game, but sometimes these things can be a little release, get back to a sense of normalcy." But the N.Y. Daily News’ Peter Botte said, “There’s so much devastation happening in Houston and the surrounding area right now it just seems like baseball shouldn’t be the top priority” (“Daily News Live,” SNY, 8/30).

MINUTE MAID PARK SEEMS OK: Astros General Counsel Giles Kibbe said Minute Maid Park was "really lucky," as while there are some areas of downtown Houston "that have some damage, Minute Maid did not." Kibbe said there was "some flooding down in the basement level," but 30 employees have been "living there since last Friday, pumping water out of there, trying to make sure we can get back into the park as quickly as we can." Kibbe: "Everyone who can is going to go back to work (today) to get ready for the weekend, and we are going to do everything we can to help with this recovery” (“Rangers-Astros,” ESPN, 8/30).

HELPING OUT: The STAR-TELEGRAM's Stevenson notes the Rangers will donate 10% of all ticket sales from their three-games series this weekend against the Angels at Globe Life Park to "Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in South Texas and Louisiana." This "includes tickets already sold for the series." The club is also donating 10% of the revenue from "all merchandise sold at the Majestic Grand Slam gift shop and all park merchandise locations," along with 10% of all concession revenue during the three-game series. The Rangers had "already announced that they’re donating the proceeds from the Texas 2 Split 50/50 raffle to the American Red Cross for all three games of the series" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 8/31).

THEY'RE ON IT
: In Tampa, Roger Mooney reports the Rays "quickly readied" Tropicana for the three-game Rangers-Astros series "at the request" of MLB. Clubhouse personnel "arrived Monday to pack personal belongings from the lockers of the Rays players and stow them in boxes now stacked in manager Kevin Cash's office and the coaches' locker room." Calls were "made to Rays game-day staffers to see who could work the series." With only the lower bowl "available for seating and a limited number of concession stands opened, about 650 workers were needed, down from the 800 to 1,000 on a typical game day" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 8/31).

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