Andrea Cancels Sports Events

(AP) Andrea washes away sporting events on East Coast
By The Associated Press
The remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea washed away sporting events from the Southeast to New England.

Major League games in Washington, Boston and New York were postponed Friday, hours before their scheduled starts.

Rain was expected to last in New York until Saturday morning, possibly leaving a wet track for the Belmont Stakes.

Qualifying for the NASCAR’s race in Long Pond, Pa., was canceled. The Party in the Poconos 400 is scheduled for Sunday and the point standings will be used to set the lineup. Points leader Jimmie Johnson will automatically sit on the pole.

There are only 43 entries for the race so no driver will miss the field.

In Chapel Hill, N.C., the first game of the best-of-three NCAA super regional between North Carolina and South Carolina was postponed. The teams will play Saturday and Sunday. If a third game is needed, it will be played Monday.

Over in Raleigh, N.C., Game 1 of the Rice-North Carolina State super regional was also pushed back until Saturday.

The first named storm of the Atlantic season lost some intensity after making landfall Thursday in Florida and its winds were down to 45 mph Friday afternoon.

The storm is forecast to move out of North Carolina on Friday night and north up along the Delmarva peninsula and into New England. A tropical storm warning for the Atlantic Coast on Friday extended from Little River inlet in South Carolina to the lower Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The storm was expected to bring 2 to 4 inches of rain to the Eastern Seaboard as well as storm surge-related flooding.

Cities in the Mid-Atlantic region and Northeast were bracing for the storm. New York City activated its flash flooding plan, while a flash flood watch was issued for southeastern Pennsylvania.

The Mets were scheduled to play the Marlins, but the matchup of young aces Matt Harvey of New York and Jose Fernandez of Miami was pushed back a day. Friday’s game will be part of a September doubleheader.

The Red Sox and Angels will play a doubleheader on Saturday at Fenway Park to make up for the postponement. The Nationals and the Minnesota Twins will make up their game with a Sunday doubleheader.