Thanks to a week-long rain storm that has hovered over the Washington, D.C. region, the Washington Nationals have an impromptu break. The Nationals last played a full game on May 13 when they completed a four-game sweep of the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks. The Nationals had completed a 6-1 west coast road trip, and were smoking hot winning 13 of their last 15 games.
Then, Mother Nature interfered.
The Nationals were set for an eight-game home stand following a day off after their win over Arizona. On Tuesday, the Nationals started what was supposed to be a two-game miniseries against the New York Yankees. However, the two teams got through 5 1/2 innings before the skies opened up and rain poured.
The game was suspended to be completed on the following day as part of a doubleheader. However, the rains did not let up, and both the suspended game and the second game of the series were postponed until June 18, when both teams were initially scheduled for off days.
The rains kept the Nationals off the field and kept the Yankees stuck at Dulles Airport overnight, forcing the players to sleep in the airport on Wednesday night.
With an off day scheduled on Thursday, the Nationals were hoping to get started with a four-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately, the rain has continued, postponing Friday’s tilt and creating a doubleheader on Saturday.
The Nationals have not played a full game in five days. The team and league officials hope to get in the first game against the Dodgers starting at 2:05 p.m. and then the night cap at 7:05 p.m. The only problem is meteorologists are calling for more rain on Saturday, and a thunderstorm later in the afternoon around the time the Nationals-Dodgers would be in the middle innings of the first game.
It’s expected to let up between the hours of 5:00 and 10:00 p.m. before thunderstorms are anticipated.
During a grueling 162-game schedule gaining an unexpected mini-break is usually welcomed, however, the Nationals were riding high off their hot stretch. The Nationals have to hope the rest did not cool them off one bit. They’ll find out soon enough, hopefully for their sake, Saturday.
