Citizens Bank Park has been the home of the Phillies since 2004. (Logan Gehman/Phillies Nation)

PHILADELPHIA — Mets pitcher Kodai Senga had Derek Hill in a full count when umpire Adam Beck stepped away from the plate at 5:29 p.m. in the bottom of the seventh inning. With the rain falling and even worse weather expected to be on its way, the grounds crew rolled out the tarp and parked seven tractors and carts on top to keep it from blowing away.

After a 48-minute delay, the Xzayvion Curry took over on the mound to complete the strikeout. But as both sides dealt with another day of bizarre conditions and a pushed-up start time, the Phillies managed a 6-1 win to even the three-game series on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. They’ll play New York in a rubber match on Sunday afternoon — as long as some unexpected weather doesn’t have anything to say about it.

For the second time in two games out of the All-Star break, Saturday’s first pitch was moved up by an hour on the day of. On Thursday, the start was changed from 7:10 p.m. to 6:10 p.m. due to smoky conditions and poor air quality that worsened as the night progressed. There was still a bit of a haze on Saturday, but first pitch was rescheduled from 4:05 p.m. to 3:05 p.m. due to inclement weather on the forecast later in the afternoon.

Left-hander Jesús Luzardo, who allowed one run in five innings, did not seem too affected by the change in routine. He said he found out “pretty early,” so he was able to adjust accordingly. He planned to get to the ballpark four hours before first pitch; upon learning of the new start time, he got there about three hours and 45 minutes prior.

“It wasn’t that big of a change,” Luzardo said.

The Phillies (55-44) gave Luzardo an early lead when slugger Kyle Schwarber hit his big-league-leading 33rd home run of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the first. The Mets responded with a solo home run in the second by Tyrone Taylor, but Luzardo did not allow any damage after that. His pitch count, however, was fairly high as he limited New York to two hits and two walks while striking out seven, reaching 90 through five frames.

Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said he would have sent Luzardo back out for the sixth, but the offense put together a long bottom of the fifth, scoring two more runs on a homer by Trea Turner and an RBI single off the bat of Alec Bohm. Mattingly didn’t want to push it, so he handed the ball to reliever Orion Kerkering.

Lefty José Alvarado pitched the seventh for Philadelphia after the club tacked on two more runs. Then that rain came through. However, it was not as severe as it might have been expected. Play resumed without much work needed on the field.

Chase Shugart pitched the last two innings for the Phillies, who are in need of arms to step up in the bullpen and keep the high-leverage options fresh after losing Brad Keller to a UCL tear. He completed the victory without drama. Perhaps on Sunday the Phillies and Mets can play at the scheduled 1:35 p.m. to see who wins the first series of the second half.