OK, let’s try this again. The Nationals and Rockies came oh so close to playing Friday night, only to have the game postponed about 25 minutes before scheduled first pitch and rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader today. So get ready for a long day (and night) of baseball on South Capitol Street, beginning at 12:05 p.m. with the makeup for Friday night’s postponed game.
Aaron Sanchez, who started to get loose in the outfield but never made it to the bullpen for warmups, will go ahead and make this start. As noted before, the right-hander gave up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings when he faced the Rockies at Coors Field earlier this month. He’ll need to be better today, especially when you consider the Nationals need as many innings from their starters as possible to ease the workload on a bullpen that will have to cover innings in both games.
Austin Gomber, who did throw some warmup pitches in the bullpen prior to the postponement announcement, will start for Colorado. The lefty held the Nats to two runs in 6 2/3 innings a few weeks ago.
The Nationals decided to use the allotted 27th roster spot for the doubleheader on reliever Andres Machado, who will be available for both games. The right-hander has a 6.43 ERA in six appearances for Triple-A Rochester since his demotion last month.
COLORADO ROCKIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS (Game 1)
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 12:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 75 degrees, wind 10 mph out to right field