Rain, rain go away — come again another day — Daddy wants to play. If Brooklyn Scherzer could talk — she would probably sing that song for her father, Max Scherzer, who is the scheduled starting pitcher tonight for the Washington Nationals. Did you chant those first eight words when you were a kid and your Little League game was hanging in the balance by Mother Nature? I did many times. Mother Nature could be so cruel when you were a kid hoping for some sunshine to play that cherished game. Well, game forty-three was officially a suspended game due to weather against the Yankees in a 3-3 tie, and game forty-four against the Yankees was a postponed game due to weather, and both of those games have been rescheduled for June 18th.
Technically, because game forty-three is a suspended game, tonight’s game is supposed to be game forty-four. For purposes of keeping won/loss records, this game is scheduled to be the 43rd game of record upon completion but will be pushed back to the 44th game of completed record when the suspended game is finalized.
Now for the strange part of records, let’s say Bryce Harper homers when he leads-off in the bottom of the 6th inning against the Yankees on June 18th of the suspended game, that home run would count for May 15th. That could affect on-going streaks such as hitting streaks and Harper has a 4-game hitting streak that could continue if he gets a hit when that June 18th suspended game resumes. It’s a back to the future conundrum.
So today is game #44 and the Nationals have a 24-18-1 record for now. We will probably forget at some point about that suspended game and have an issue reconciling the math. Now we have to wonder if game #44 gets played tonight due to Mother Nature.
— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) May 18, 2018
The Dodgers have scheduled righty Ross Stripling who had been working out of the bullpen for thirteen games and put back into the starting rotation for three games due to Dodgers injuries to Kershaw and Ryu. With Stripling, he has reverse splits and righties hit him 95 points higher on OPS this season. He has also been worse on the road where he’s given up all of his home runs.
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 7:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN; MLB App out-of-market; MLB Network (out-of-market)
Nats Radio: 106.7 The Fan and via the MLB app
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
- Trea Turner SS
- Bryce Harper RF
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Matt Adams 1B
- Howie Kendrick LF
- Pedro Severino C
- Michael Taylor CF
- Max Scherzer, RHP
- Wilmer Difo 2B
