Snow postpones series opener, forces Sunday doubleheader

DENVER – A mid-April snowstorm in the Rocky Mountains has postponed the Nationals’ series opener tonight and will create an Easter Sunday doubleheader at Coors Field.

The Rockies officially postponed tonight’s game about seven hours prior to scheduled first pitch, recognizing there was no real hope of playing due to the snow that began falling in the region this morning and is expected to continue through the night.

And with temperatures still expected in the low 40s on Saturday, they opted not to schedule the makeup game until Sunday, when the forecast is much more favorable, with temperatures in the 60s.

First pitch for Saturday’s game actually has been pushed back an hour, to 4:10 p.m. Eastern, to give crews enough time to prep the ballpark for play. Sunday’s 3:10 p.m. Eastern game remains as scheduled, with the makeup game now scheduled for 8:10 p.m. Eastern.

All games will continue to be broadcast on MASN.

The Nationals arrived here Thursday night following a disheartening 1-0 loss to the Pirates and a rough series overall in Pittsburgh, where they lost three of four games to their last-place opponent. This after they dropped two of three last weekend in Miami, leaving them 2-5 on the road trip.

They’re hoping for better results on the third and final leg of the trip against a Colorado club that is a major-league-worst 3-15 and ranks last in the big leagues in both runs scored (52) and runs allowed (103).

The Nationals (7-12) have been getting hit-or-miss performances from their pitching staff on this trip (three games allowing three or fewer earned runs, four games allowing six or more earned runs) but the larger problem has been a dramatic drop-off in offensive production.

After scoring an average of 4.6 runs, thanks to 42 extra-base hits (including 18 homers) through their first 13 games of the season, the Nats have scored only 2.8 runs while totaling only four extra-base hits (one homer) through their last six games. Unsurprisingly, five of those six games have been losses, all to the Marlins and Pirates.

The club announced its revised pitching plan for the weekend: MacKenzie Gore (tonight’s originally scheduled starter) will now pitch Saturday. The team will start Jake Irvin in Sunday's first game, then Brad Lord in the nightcap. Because of Monday’s off-day, there's no need to call up a fill-in starter at any point.

The Nationals will be allowed a 27th player for Sunday’s doubleheader, though, and the only healthy pitcher left on their 40-man roster who isn’t already in the majors is Andry Lara, who has a 9.26 ERA in three starts for Triple-A Rochester.

Shinnosuke Ogasawara is also on the 40-man roster, but the left-hander was placed on the Triple-A seven-day injured list Sunday with an oblique strain.