As it inched across the batter’s box at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon, the shadow from the light tower above the western grandstands provided cover for two starting pitchers who hardly needed the assistance.
The batters took turns in the shade, blinking at a mound bathed in sunlight — the sort of contrast that does no favors for those trying to hit. It did not help that Atlanta’s Shelby Miller and the Mets’ Jacob deGrom are both hard to hit, anyway.
But a game that began just after 4 p.m. soon became desperate for anything resembling the crack of a bat.