Finale vs. Phillies postponed to Thursday at 1:05 p.m.

By Mark Zuckerman

Nationals

September 01, 2021, 7:06am

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With heavy rain and wind expected all day and evening as the remnants of Hurricane Ida sweep through the mid-Atlantic, the Nationals wasted no time and announced the postponement of tonight's series finale against the Phillies more than eight hours before scheduled first pitch.

The game will now be made up Thursday at 1:05 p.m., the full nine innings scheduled.

Tickets and parking passes for tonight's postponed game will be honored Thursday.

The chances of playing the game as originally planned looked remote all along, the forecast bleak for some time now. The Mets, who were scheduled to host the Marlins, went so far as to announce their postponement Tuesday night.

The Nationals didn't make their announcement that early, but they nonetheless called things off far earlier than normal, not wanting to subject any fans, employees or stadium workers to commuting to Nationals Park in poor conditions only to postpone the game later.

Thursday's forecast calls for sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70s.

Tonight's scheduled starters, Paolo Espino for the Nats and Aaron Nola for the Phillies, are expected to pitch Thursday.

Though they'll appreciate the early day off, the Nationals do now face a more daunting stretch to open September. They've got 15 games scheduled in the next 14 days, including Saturday's day-night doubleheader against the Mets. Their next scheduled off-day isn't until Sept. 16.