Abrams returns to leadoff spot, Rucker claimed, Blankenhorn DFA'd (game postponed)

PITTSBURGH – Tonight's game between the Nationals and Pirates has been postponed due to a line of storms expected to arrive about an hour after scheduled first pitch and linger throughout the night.

The two teams will now play a split doubleheader Saturday, with the makeup game at 1:35 p.m. followed by the originally scheduled game at 6:40 p.m.

After a brief period of rain this afternoon, the skies over PNC Park actually cleared up and looked to remain that way until approximately 7:30 p.m. In theory, this game could have started on time at 6:40 p.m., with officials hoping to get as many innings as possible in before the rain arrived.

But with the storms expected to be strong and last throughout the night, the Pirates decided not to take any chances and announced the postponement about 30 minutes before first pitch.

DJ Herz, who was supposed to pitch tonight, will now start Saturday's 1:35 p.m. game. Mitchell Parker will start the 6:40 p.m. nightcap as planned.

Fans who had tickets for tonight's game can use them for Saturday's first game, or exchange them for a future game. A separate ticket is needed for the nightcap.

* One day after getting his third game off in less than two weeks, CJ Abrams is back in the Nationals lineup. And back in the leadoff spot for the first time in more than a week.

Abrams will bat first tonight when the Nationals face the Pirates, with manager Davey Martinez giving the slumping shortstop a chance to return to the spot in the batting order he occupied most of the last calendar year before recently getting dropped.

The reason behind the switch: Martinez likes the matchup of Abrams against Pittsburgh right-hander Luis Ortiz, who throws the overwhelming majority of his pitches over 90 mph.

“For him, this is a good matchup,” Martinez said of Abrams. “This guy has a good fastball, so we’re going to get him up there.”

Ortiz’s four-seam fastball and sinker average 95-96 mph, and his cutter averages 91. Combined, he throws those three pitches 71 percent of the time, with his mid-80s slider used 28 percent of the time and his seldom-used changeup only 1 percent of the time.

During his lengthy slump – he’s got a .515 OPS since July 7 – Abrams has particularly struggled with softer stuff from opposing pitchers. He’s still batting .322 and slugging .594 against fastballs, but those numbers plummet to .165 and .282 against breaking balls and .168 and .242 against off-speed pitches. Pitchers have picked up on his struggles and fed him a steady diet of non-fastballs.

Abrams, who sat Thursday night’s opener against left-hander Bailey Falter, returns to the leadoff spot after batting sixth or seventh much of the last week. That means Dylan Crews drops down to the seventh spot for only the second time in his 10 big league games, leaving Abrams and James Wood atop the order.

“I wanted to bump Crews down a little bit, just to relax him a little bit,” Martinez said. “Eventually, I want to get all three of those guys up there. But tonight was a night I wanted to get Abrams back up there, see if we can get him some fastballs.”

After reaching base in each of his first five games, Crews has been less productive during his first road trip. He enters tonight’s game 2 for his last 16, though he has drawn three walks while striking out only once.

“I think he’s doing fine,” Martinez said. “He’s getting his hits. This is more about giving him a little breather, letting him relax a little, see some pitches. He’s one of those young hitters that’s really talented. As you know, he’s being watched very carefully. I just want to make sure he’s doing everything right. And, honestly, just try to get him some success.”

* The Nationals claimed right-hander Michael Rucker off outright waivers from the Phillies today and designated outfielder Travis Blankenhorn for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster for him.

Rucker, 30, spent much of the last three seasons pitching in the majors for the Cubs, going 5-2 with a 4.96 ERA and 1.386 WHIP in 96 relief appearances. Acquired by the Phillies in February, he spent all of this season in the minors, going 2-2 with a 6.58 ERA and 1.962 WHIP in 22 games, most of that at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Rucker missed considerable time with a hand injury, but when healthy struck out 36 batters in 26 innings. He was DFA’d on Wednesday.

The Nats aren’t necessarily looking at Rucker to help them this season, but he’s under club control through 2028 and could figure into their plans next year. He’ll report to Triple-A Rochester this weekend.

“I didn’t see him pitch that much this year, but we felt that he still has some value,” Martinez said. “Because he does have a live fastball, up in the mid-90s. A good opportunity to see him a little bit in Triple-A and see how he does.”

Blankenhorn was dropped from the 40-man roster to make room for Rucker. The 28-year-old had good power numbers in Rochester (26 homers in 106 games) but wasn’t able to translate that into success during two brief big league stints the last two seasons (9-for-62, one homer).