ARLINGTON, Texas -- A victim in the postponement of Wednesday's Rangers-Diamondbacks game is Texas pitcher Martin Perez.

Unplayable field conditions caused by heavy rain led to the postponement.

During the storm that included lightning, gusty winds and heavy

rains, the infield was soaked while the grounds crew struggled to

get the tarp on the field.

Though the rain stopped and the grounds crew had been working on

the field, Rangers officials announced the postponement just about

an hour after the scheduled start.

That decision was made after Rangers manager Ron Washington and

Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson gathered with other officials,

including Rangers CEO Nolan Ryan and general manager Jon Daniels,

to survey the field.

Washington said afterward that the home plate area was too soft.

So were the paths between the plate and first base, and third base

and home.

Perez, a 22-year-old Venezuelan right-hander, will be skipped for his scheduled start on Saturday. And with Alexi Ogando getting ready to return to the rotation on the next road trip, Perez might have to wait a while before getting another starting opportunity.

The scheduled starters for Wednesday night, the Rangers' Justin Grimm and Arizona's Brandon McCarthy, will be pushed back for Thursday's 1:05 p.m. CT start.

That moves Thursday's original scheduled starter, Derek Holland, back to Friday for the opener of a three-game series against Kansas City. Nick Tepesch goes on Saturday, followed by Yu Darvish on Sunday.

This was the Rangers' first postponement in Arlington this season. Fans holding tickets for Wednesday's game were asked to retain them pending rescheduling.

The game will be made up on a mutual off date for the Rangers and Diamondbacks to be determined, likely

Aug. 15, a scheduled off day for both teams.

During Arizona's batting practice before the game, an

announcement was made that the area was under a severe thunderstorm

warning. Fans were asked to leave the upper deck and all fans were

told to seek shelter.

Rangers spokesman John Blake said there were no injuries

reported during the storms, but that about 25 trees outside the

stadium sustained damage or were toppled by the bad weather.

When the Diamondbacks left the field a few minutes later, some

field crew members rolled the batting cage out of the way while

others starting pulling the tarp.

While the crew tried to get the tarp in position, gusty winds

caused the heavy covering to start flapping wildly and it wound up

bunched together toward second base and in shallow center field.

Heavy rain fell during the several minutes it took to get the tarp

under control and cover the infield, with the grounds crew joined

by security and other ballpark personnel.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.