Partly because they each swept their division series, the Yankees and the Angels have played just eight games in 20 days since the end of the regular season. In a session with Los Angeles-area writers on Saturday, Angels Manager Mike Scioscia made his feelings clear.  “Ridiculous,” Scioscia said. “I don’t know. Can I say it any clearer than that? We should have never had a day off last Wednesday. We should never have three days off after the season. You shouldn’t even have two days off after the season.  “It just takes an advantage away for a deep team, which everybody feels very strongly is an asset. It takes that advantage away and I think that’s something that Major League Baseball hopefully will consider looking at.”  The reason for the elongated schedule is the recent change in the start of the World Series. From 1985 through 2006, the World Series was scheduled to start on a Saturday. Then baseball and the networks concluded that Saturday was a dead night for ratings. They built a few extra days into the schedule, which pushed Game 1 to a Wednesday.  The uneven pace of the postseason is an adjustment for players who are used to being in the lineup every day. As the Yankees took batting practice in their indoor cage Saturday, Mark Teixeira mentioned that to Jerry Hairston Jr.  “He said he’s got a new respect for utility players,” Hairston said. “I just started laughing, ‘Why don’t you give me part of that check then?’ But that’s part of being a baseball player. You don’t make excuses; you just go out and play.”  Tactically, the Angels would seem to benefit from the extra day off. Their No. 1 starter, John Lackey, will now be available in relief of Joe Saunders in Game 6. If he is not needed, Lackey could start Game 7 on Monday on three days’ rest, just as he did in the 2002 World Series when he beat San Francisco to win the title.  “It’s going to give us more options to look at, absolutely,” Scioscia said. “We still have our whole staff out there for tomorrow. John Lackey, he’s still in play tomorrow. We’ll get through Game 6. There’s no sense talking about a Game 7.”  The Yankees are sticking with their plan to start Andy Pettitte in Game 6, even though C. C. Sabathia could now start on four days’ rest. Manager Joe Girardi said Sabathia would start Game 7 on Monday, if necessary.  “I never thought they would skip me,” Pettitte said. “I would hope they had a lot of confidence and we can win this game with me on the mound.  “And if C. C. doesn’t have to throw, who else would you want for a Game 7 if there is a Game 7?”  Left unsaid is the advantage the Yankees would have in the World Series by holding back Sabathia. If Pettitte closes out the Angels on Sunday, Sabathia would have seven days’ rest before starting Game 1 against the Phillies on Wednesday. Conceivably, Sabathia could then make two more starts in the World Series.  Pettitte said Saturday was “the longest day ever,” preparing for a start that never came. Major League Baseball postponed the game just after 6 p.m., and after Pettitte addressed reporters, he did some light running on the warning track, which was soaked in rain.  Pettitte was one of the few players to venture outside the drenched dugouts on Saturday. He has won four postseason clinchers in his career, but another chance will have to wait.  “We all wanted to play, and we’re ready to play,” the Yankees’ Nick Swisher said. “Sometimes, rain happens. You can’t stop it. We don’t have a roof. Maybe they can put a roof up?”  Alas, that was not included in the $1.5 billion budget for the new Yankee Stadium.  A version of this article appears in print on October 25, 2009, on Page SP1 of the New York edition with the headline: Rainout Is Unwelcome, but Gives Angels Options. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
The rain in the Bronx was so severe that Game 6 of the A.L.C.S. between the Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels was postponed until Sunday night.