Flooding forces Double-A Senators to move playoff series to Richmond

Rain impacted the Nationals' schedule this week, but it has also affected two minor league playoff series for two Nats' affiliates - Single-A Potomac of the Carolina League and Double-A Harrisburg in the Eastern League. The worst has been in the Harrisburg, Pa., area where City Island and Metro Bank Park are completely flooded and the field is under water. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said the Senators will have to play all their games in the divisional series in Richmond. "It is unfortunate that the flooding situation that happened there," Rizzo said. "I saw a picture of the stadium and it is certainly unplayable. It looks like it is going to be unplayable for a long, long time." Games 3, 4 and 5 of the series were supposed to return to Harrisburg because the Senators won home field advantage with a better overall record. However, because the stadium is flooded, Rizzo said it appears that every game of the series will have to be away from Harrisburg. "They are going to have to strap it on in a foreign ballpark for the series," he said. "But we are confident in the guys that they will take it to another level and hopefully they can win the series." Game 1 is scheduled for Friday night in Richmond and Game 2 Saturday. Meanwhile, Game 2 of the Carolina League divisional series between the P-Nats and the Frederick Keys has also been postponed due to the heavy rains in the mid-Atlantic region. The series will resume Friday night in Frederick and Game 3 will be played in Woodbridge, Va., at Pfitzner Stadium on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. Sammy Solis will take the mound for Potomac against Frederick's Rick Zagone at 7 p.m. Friday.