Nats-Cubs rained out, postponed until today

CHICAGO — The showers came a little late, but the rain that soaked Wrigley Field and washed out Game 4 of the NL Division Series followed Tuesday’s forecast pretty closely.

Instead, Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker delivered the biggest surprise of the day.

Baker announced after the rainout that he will stay with Tanner Roark for today’s must-win game against the Chicago Cubs instead of giving the ball to ace Stephen Strasburg on regular rest. Jake Arrieta pitches for the Cubs in his return from a right hamstring injury.

Strasburg threw a bullpen session Monday. Baker said there is an illness going around his team, which he attributed to the weather, air conditioning at their hotel and Wrigley, and the “time of the year for mould around Chicago.”

“We decided to stay with Tanner because, No. 1, you know, he was slated,” Baker said. “Didn’t work out for Stras for his bullpen day, and we’re all creatures of habit, and plus, we’ve got full confidence in Tanner. And Stras, it would have been better, because he’s feeling under the weather, like a lot of my team is.”

The Cubs and Nationals took batting practice and the grounds crew got the field ready before bringing out the tarp. The rain started to fall about a half-hour after the game was supposed to start. With more showers in the forecast, Major League Baseball then called it off.

Chicago leads 2-1 in the best-of-five series going into Game 4, now scheduled for today at 1:08 p.m. PT. There is more rain in the forecast for early in the day.

If the Nationals win Wednesday, Game 5 would be Thursday night in Washington. The winner of the NLDS takes on the Dodgers in the next round, scheduled to begin Saturday in Los Angeles.

Chicago won 2-1 at home on Monday.