NEW YORK --- Eager to lock up the NL East title after letting it slip away last season, the New York Mets will have to wait a day before beginning their taxing stretch drive.

Their game Friday night against the Atlanta Braves was postponed by rain and will be made up today as part of a single-admission doubleheader, beginning at 3:55 p.m.

The tarp stayed on the field all evening, and the game was called after a 90-minute delay.

Now, the Mets are scheduled to play 17 games over the final 16 days of the regular season, without a day off. New York is three games ahead of second-place Philadelphia -- four up in the loss column -- in the NL East, desperately wanting to erase the bitter memories of last September's embarrassing collapse.

The only way to do that is to close out the Phillies this time. The Mets led by seven games with 17 to play last season before finishing 5-12, as Philadelphia rallied to win the division crown.

"The demons that have haunted us for a whole year," manager Jerry Manuel, the bench coach last season, said Friday. "Even if you were not a part of it, you knew about it. It's probably something that gets expressed daily here."

The Mets activated catcher Ramon Castro from the disabled list Friday, but he was not in the starting lineup, even though Brian Schneider was scratched with a swollen left knee.

Robinson Cancel was penciled in to start behind the plate.

Castro had been on the DL since Aug. 27 with a strained right quadriceps. He is batting .242 with seven homers and 24 RBI in 128 at-bats.

Schneider was examined by a doctor Friday and said he has some extra fluid and swelling in his bursa sac, atop his left kneecap. He said it's a common issue for catchers and doesn't think it's anything to worry about. He expects to play today.

"It happens every now and then. I just never had it as bad as it is," Schneider said.

He is taking anti-inflammatory medication but did not have his knee drained. Schneider is hitting .258 with seven home runs and 35 RBI in 302 at-bats.

For the Braves, third baseman Chipper Jones wasn't in the lineup because of a stiff back. He spent much of the afternoon in the trainer's room.

The storm that hit New York wreaked havoc with the schedule. Philadelphia's home game against Milwaukee was one of several postponements because of wet weather. The Phillies and Brewers scheduled a day-night doubleheader Sunday.