WASHINGTON -- The Cubs and the Nationals waited for three hours on Friday night, as rain continued to descend upon Nationals Park, with no end in sight in the forecast. Finally, near midnight ET, and the rain halted, the game was postponed due to inclement weather.
The teams will play a single-admission doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 3:05 p.m. ET. The nightcap will begin 45 minutes after the conclusion of the opener. Fans must have a ticket for the originally scheduled game at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday to enter the ballpark.
Tickets for Friday's game can be exchanged for any other remaining 2018 regular-season game, although they can not be used for entry into the ballpark for the twin bill.
Nats right-hander Max Scherzer will face lefty Jaime Garcia in Game 1. Cubs left-hander Cole Hamels will start the nightcap, while Washington has not announced its starter.
Rain initially caused a delay of 1 hour, 21 minutes at the start of Friday's game, and even though the weather forecast looked foreboding, the contest started anyway.
Nats right-hander Joe Ross made his return from Tommy John surgery for seven batters in 1 2/3 innings. In his first action on the mound in 14 months, Ross gave up one hit and hit another batter, but he looked sharp and his velocity was up as he struck out one batter before his 2018 debut was washed away.
While Ross was on the mound in the second inning, rain intensified and the second delay of the night began quickly. With two outs and Cubs starter Jonathan Lester coming to the plate in a deluge, home-plate umpire Mike Winters waved both teams off the field.
Considering this is the Cubs' last trip to Washington this season, the teams waited as long as they could before the game was postponed just shy of the early hours on Saturday morning.