Phils Wait it Out
Updated 12:07 PM EDT, Sun, Oct 11, 2009
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Game 3 of the Philadelphia-Colorado playoff series was postponed a day because of weather Saturday better suited for cross-country skiing. That prompted a pitching switch by the Phillies, with left-hander J.A. Happ going to the mound Sunday instead of them 37-year-old Martinez. The Rockies are sticking with Jason Hammel.
The Phillies holed up in their hotel Saturday with no plans of working out at the ballpark. The Rockies summoned their players for a 90-minute workout inside Coors Field.
``We just want to keep ourselves on somewhat of a schedule,'' manager Jim Tracy said.
Tracy suspected this might not be a night for baseball when even his dogs wanted to skip their morning walk. Major League Baseball agreed with Tracy's beagles, pushing back Game 3 of this NL division series to Sunday night and Game 4 to Monday.
The playoff is tied at one game each. Game 5, if necessary, will be played as scheduled Tuesday in Philadelphia, without a day off for travel.
“I think it's a very wise decision,” said Tracy. ``You could have something happen in weather like this where you could lose a player for half a year in 2010. I don't think that would be good for anybody.
“There's no question about the type of play that you would see in this kind of weather vs. if you have better conditions that they're calling for Sunday. To be cold and wet and rainy and sleety or snowy is completely different than cold and dry and clear.”
A cold front moved into Denver overnight, dropping temperatures into the teens with record lows for the date. Coors Field was covered with a thin layer of snow and ice Saturday morning and flurries were expected to continue through the night. The National Weather Service said the cold front packed more punch than expected and easily broke the record low for the date of 25 degrees set in 1905.
With the front moving out Saturday night, temperatures are expected to approach 50 on Sunday.
Copyright Associated Press
First Published: Oct 10, 2009 5:11 PM EDT
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