WASHINGTON -- Long after the concourses emptied, the sky cleared up as the tarp still covered the field. Game 2 of the National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers still had to wait.
Major League Baseball postponed the Dodgers-Nationals game until Sunday at 1:08 p.m. ET because it expected the rain that fell throughout the morning and afternoon to continue well into the night.
"We hate to cancel," said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who arrived Saturday afternoon after a flight from New York. "We hate to make travel worse on the players than it was originally intended to be. But it just doesn't look like we're going to have a situation that would be safe for the players to play."
Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy said he was glad the decision was made quickly.
"Hats off to Major League Baseball for canceling this early," Murphy said. "I'm sure they didn't want either pitcher to get out there and get caught in a situation where you lose one of them, especially in a short series like this."
Washington's Tanner Roark (16-10, 2.83 ERA) and Los Angeles' Rich Hill (12-5, 2.12) are scheduled to start Game 2 of the best-of-five series, which the Dodgers lead 1-0 after Friday's 4-3 win.
Game 3 will still be played Monday in Los Angeles, meaning the teams will not have an off day for travel after Game 2.
"We do East-West travel like this during the regular season," commissioner Rob Manfred said. "It's not ideal but doable."
It's expected to be Los Angeles' Kenta Maeda against Washington's Gio Gonzalez on Monday.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday's rainout all but nixes the idea that Clayton Kershaw would come back on short rest for Game 4.
If necessary, Julio Urias would start Game 4 for the Dodgers while Kershaw is set as the potential Game 5 starter.
ESPN's Eddie Matz and Doug Padilla and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
