Rain Has Bright Side for Abbott

Into every life a little rain must fall, but in Jim Abbott’s case, it’s getting ridiculous.

For the third time in less than two months Tuesday, Abbott had a scheduled start delayed, a rainstorm here resulting in postponement of the series opener between the Angels and the New York Yankees.

But this rainout will only cost Abbott 24 hours, since Manager Doug Rader said he would roll back his entire pitching rotation one day. That means Abbott will oppose New York’s Rich Doston tonight at Yankee Stadium.

“We decided to push everybody back,” Rader said. “We want to keep Abbie as close (to schedule) as we can right now.”

That’s a 180-degree switch in Rader’s thinking since April 18, when cold, snowy weather in Chicago prompted him to skip Abbott’s turn, forcing the young left-hander to wait 10 days between starts.

But then, Abbott was a virtually untested rookie with a 0-2 record. Today, Abbott is 3-3, coming off a four-hit shutout over the Boston Red Sox.

“Chicago was a completely different situation,” Rader said. “Abbie was just considered a No. 5 pitcher then. It was appropriate in that situation to skip over that man.

“If we hadn’t skipped him, everybody else would’ve been knocked out of whack a lot more than they will now.”

Abbott also saw a scheduled start in Detroit, in front of family and friends, scratched because of a rainout in Toronto. That forced him to sit for six days between starts and when he returned to the mound, he lasted only three innings in a 5-2 loss to New York at Anaheim.

“That layoff hurt a little bit,” Abbott said. “If it’s more than a couple days, I think it does have some kind of effect.”

A one-day delay isn’t so bad, Abbott said, although now he will miss his first chance to pitch in Fenway Park. He was to have faced the Red Sox there Sunday afternoon, but now he will pitch Monday against the Brewers in Milwaukee.

Fenway’s Green Monster traditionally eats up rookie left-handers and Rader was asked if Tuesday’s rainout could be considered a break for Abbott.

“I think you can look at it the other way around,” Rader said. “He just shut (the Red Sox) out. I’m certainly not trying to protect Jim Abbott.”