"I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have." – – Abraham Lincoln, ballplayer pic.twitter.com/R08w40n57T
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) July 18, 2015
By Jon Weisman
It wasn’t too long ago that you would never have found a Major League team playing baseball in the nation’s capital at any time of day. So I guess we shouldn’t complain.
But on a night that began the night with bright sobriety, before a bar crawl to the darkly ridiculous, the Dodgers and Nationals found themselves going to bed five innings into a suspended game, with the Nationals leading, 3-2.
The third power outage in the stadium lights, coming shortly before 10:45 p.m. at Nationals Park, proved one too many — although it left the Dodgers disconcertingly on the short end of a game they had led during the first two delays.
The Dodgers have won their past two rain-shortened games, in 2014 and 2015 in Colorado, but this one is scheduled to be resumed at 11 a.m. Saturday, before the regularly scheduled game with starters Clayton Kershaw and Doug Fister.
Even before the electrical hijinx, the night was peculiar enough for Dodger starter Mike Bolsinger, who did just about everything right except balls grounded slowly to his left by Danny Espinosa.
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In the first inning, he cleanly picked up a Espinosa bunt but alley-oopsed the throw above Adrian Gonzalez’s head at first for a two-base error. Not messing around, the Dodgers had Bolsinger walked Bryce Harper intentionally then and there, and Bolsinger followed through by striking out former-Dodger-turned-Nationals-cleanup-hitter Clint Robinson, and then none-of-those-things Wilson Ramos.
In the third, Bolsinger tumbled to the ground trying to corral Espinosa’s slow roller, which set up a first-and-third situation with one out. Despite concerns about his left knee, Bolsinger stayed in to escape the damage reasonably well, holding Harper after a tense seven pitches to an RBI groundout that broke the scoreless tie.
Moments later, after Justin Turner was hit by a pitch, Gonzalez blasted a homer to right, and suddenly Bolsinger and the Dodgers had replaced the metaphorical darkness with light.
Then things got literal.
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One out into the bottom of the fourth inning, banks of lights shut down overhead, and the first of the delays hit. Unlike what happened with the Dodgers in Chicago last month, the players were immediately pulled from the field. remaining sidelined for 82 minutes. Bolsinger actually came back after the delay to finish retiring the side, before calling it a night.
Delay No. 2 began just as Dodger relief pitcher Chin-hui Tsao took the mound in the bottom of the fifth, and when that ended, Tsao gave up a double to Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark and a homer to Yunel Escobar. In between the fifth and the sixth inning came the third and final delay, and that’s how we were left, looking for explanations, in suspended aggravation.
https://twitter.com/yungjoc650/status/622236489787662337
My bad everybody..I knew I shouldn't of used that blow dryer before the game! #shortage
— Bryce Harper (@Bharper3407) July 18, 2015
Mark Hagerstrom
So two and a half days games with heat index expected to be in 100-105 degree range. Sunday is Star Wars day a the stadium, but I may leave my Princess Leia wig at home.
Mark Hagerstrom
Game to resume at 2pm local time. But now raining a bit with thunderstorms (60% chance) for 4 pm start of other game on through 8pm. Wish I could some of this yawls way. Sunday is Star Wars day at the stadium. If they have to reschedule one or two games Monday July 27th is open (now a travel day to the West Coast for both clubs). Our next, and last, swing East is Aug 4, but with no travel day included (noon game in Pitt on Sunday, August 9, followed by night game Monday in LA against these same Nats).
Mark Hagerstrom
Or “Friday Night Lights Out”.