updated 1:35 a.m. ET Sept. 9, 2004

Hurricane Frances is still messing up the major league baseball schedule.

The doubleheader between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and New York Yankees was postponed because of rain Wednesday, leaving few options for a makeup date and possibly forcing New York to play a split doubleheader against separate teams later this season.

The first game Wednesday was supposed to be a makeup of Monday’s doubleheader that was changed to a single night game when the Devil Rays were unable to get to New York in time for Game 1 due to Hurricane Frances.

The Yankees were annoyed at the commissioner’s office over the way that situation was handled. They waited around all day Monday to play one night game, then spent half the day in the clubhouse Wednesday hoping the rain would stop.

“It’s kind of ironic, isn’t it?” pitcher Mike Mussina said. “It’s raining today, it might be raining tomorrow. We might have three games left, who knows?”

More heavy rain is in the forecast for Thursday in New York, remnants of the huge hurricane that hit Florida last weekend. The teams are slated to play a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m., but even if they get it in, that leaves one game that still needs to be made up.

The Yankees would like that game pushed back to the end of the regular season and made up only if necessary, but the commissioner’s office wants postponed games made up during the course of the season.

“They know our preference on it. Given the circumstances the last few days, it’s not like there’s been a lot of dialogue,” New York general manager Brian Cashman said. “There’s a lot of things that could have been done differently, but we’re not there, we’re here, we’re just going to try to go forward.”

This is Tampa Bay’s last scheduled trip to New York this year and the clubs don’t have an off day in common.

That means New York could wind up playing two teams on one day at Yankee Stadium, including a makeup game against the Devil Rays. The only remaining day the Devil Rays are off and the Yankees are home is Sept. 23, when New York hosts Toronto.

That comes in the middle of an 11-game homestand for Tampa Bay.

Cashman said no decision had been made yet.

“I don’t know what you could have done. You can’t mess with the weather,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “That’s the danger of that last trip in. We’re running out of time now, so it’s going to be inconvenient whenever it is.”

The Yankees entered with a 2½-game lead over Boston in the AL East. The Red Sox were scheduled to play later in Oakland.

“I think everybody understands how important it is to get these games in,” backup catcher John Flaherty said.

The first game never began Wednesday and was called about 2½ hours after the scheduled start. Flaherty said he napped and took some extra batting practice indoors during the delay. He also watched the Jorge Posada “Yankeeography” on television.

Mussina (9-9) will start the first game for the Yankees on Thursday against Dewon Brazelton (6-6). Brad Halsey (1-2), recently recalled from the minors, will pitch Game 2 against Tampa Bay’s Rob Bell (6-7).

Esteban Loaiza, demoted to the bullpen after five disappointing starts with New York, was supposed to make a spot start in the first game Wednesday. Now he will be passed over and sent back to the bullpen.

“I was looking forward to the opportunity to start. I’ll be in the bullpen and I’ll just try to do the best job that I can,” Loaiza said. “They probably want to go with the young guy and see if he gets hit and then I’ll be in the game and we’ll see what happens.”

Devil Rays left-hander Scott Kazmir, a former Mets prospect, will miss his first chance to pitch at Yankee Stadium. He had been slated to start Thursday night, but now he has been pushed back.

Notes: New York slugger Jason Giambi was scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Columbus, but the Clippers’ International League playoff game against Richmond was rained out. Giambi had three sessions in the indoor cage instead. “He would have gotten the same amount here, so we didn’t lose anything,” Cashman said. ... Yankees RHP Kevin Brown (broken left hand) didn’t have a chance to play catch or throw off a bullpen mound because of the wet field. He’ll try again Thursday. ... Tampa Bay released 1B-DH Randall Simon and recalled OF Midre Cummings from Triple-A Durham.

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