Astros/Rangers Series Moving to Tropicana Field

Because of Hurricane Harvey - and a dispute between the two Texas teams about where to relocate this week's three-game series - the game was played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., the home of the Tampa Bay Rays.

When the Astros left Houston last Thursday for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels, they packed just for the weekend, assuming that even though a storm was coming, they would be able to return home once the series in California ended on Sunday.

"The safety of our fans, players and staff remain our main priority", Astros president of business operations Reid Ryan said in a statement. The Rangers agreed to play this week's games in Arlington but wanted the September series to go ahead at Globe Life Park as planned, Ryan said.

Ryan said the Rangers didn't want to give up the September dates - which would have come at the end of a nine-game road trip _ but were open to shifting the series to Arlington this week. We'll take your home series.' They rejected that and didn't want to do that. They wanted all 6 of our games at their park. In defending his team, however, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said the possibility of gaining an extra home series did not influence his decision to hold on to the September showdown. Their next 10 games after the Mets series will be in Seattle, Oakland and Anaheim. Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association announced that they will jointly donate $1 million to various relief efforts to help offset the damage throughout the state of Texas resulting from the catastrophic storm, including to the American Red Cross.

But whereas the Astros declined the first option, it was the Rangers who declined this one. This is all the revenue - from ticket sales all the way down to parking. ESPN also will televise Wednesday's game nationally.

Multiple reports surfaced early Monday that Major League Baseball was considering a neutral site for the series. Unlike the 2008 Astros team, the outcome of these games should not derail the season. The Rangers (64-66) are three games back of the second AL wild-card spot, with five teams ahead of them in a muddled seven-team race. In addition, the Astros' team owners and the club's Astros Foundation announced plans for a $4 million donation to Harvey relief.

Houston residents are now dealing with massive flooding around the city as people are still in need of rescuing days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall.