September 1, 2014 – Potomac Nationals 6, Frederick Keys 1 – Harry Grove Stadium (Frederick)

So play ball already!

Umpires: HP: Cody Oakes. 1B: Rich Grassa.

Weather: 90 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 6 mph, R to L.

T: 2:06 (1:44 delay).

Att: 4,909.

On a hot Labor Day afternoon with “scattered showers” predicted, both teams started out as if they were trying to vacate the premises as quickly as possible, with the first three innings being completed in a mere half hour. Clouds had been gathering, however, and a few drops of rain started falling in the bottom of the third. After the Nationals’ leadoff batter was retired in the top of the fourth, however, the skies opened and the game was quickly halted. The grounds crew got the tarp on reasonably quickly, the storm moved on after about 20 minutes, and then the sun came out.

And then we waited. After the tarp was removed, the umpires engaged in a lengthy conversation with the two managers down the left-field line, while many of the players from both teams congregated behind second base. The field appeared to be in great shape, and there didn’t seem to be any remaining storms or lightning anywhere in the vicinity. This continued until about 3:50 (the game had been halted shortly after 2:30), when the umpires finally came in and there was an announcement that the game would be resumed – at 4:15. No indication of what had caused the lengthy “sun delay”.

The game itself was pretty anticlimactic. Potomac broke through when catcher Pedro Severino belted a two-run homer off reliever Jimmy Yacabonis in the fifth inning, added another run off Yacabonis on three singles in the sixth, and broke things wide open in the top of the seventh with three runs on four hits off Lex Rutledge. The Keys didn’t get their first hit until the fifth inning, finally scoring a run in the seventh on a wild pitch.

Section 203, Row J, Seat 1 – on the aisle in the third row from the back, in the second section to the right of home plate. This row does provide some shade on a hot day, but unfortunately only the rearmost two rows are under the overhang and thus protected from the rain. There’s nothing like the combination of a heavy rain and a limited amount of space under cover on the concourse to make a relatively small crowd (many of the announced 4,909 were apparently present in spirit only) seem much, much larger.

Oh – and if I had stayed home, I could have watched the Phillies no-hit Atlanta.