Cubs, Braves Postponed; No Makeup Date Set

Saturday's contest between the Cubs and Braves at Wrigley Field was postponed about 10:15 a.m. CT because of the forecast for "inclement weather" for the rest of the day.

Yes, I went to the ballpark, thinking they might open the park to hand out the Ron Santo replica statues scheduled as today's giveaway, even if the game was postponed. But I hadn't been there for more than about 10 minutes when a long stream of concession workers walked by the bleacher entrance, telling us to go home, that the game had been called.

I waited for confirmation and a few minutes later, various beat writers had sent out tweets that the game had been called.

There's been no makeup date yet announced, but as I've posted elsewhere, the teams have a common off day Thursday, July 7, when the Cubs are off after a series with the Reds, and the Braves will be heading to Chicago to play a weekend series against the White Sox. Seems like a no-brainer, but of course the Players Association has to weigh in, so it might be a while before any official announcement will be made. The Cubs also still have yet to announce a rescheduled date for the Brewers rainout from Wednesday.

One thing this does is allow the Cubs to tweak their rotation to get their three top starters to face the Pirates:

Lackey tomorrow. #Cubs vs Pirates will be Hammel, Arrieta, Lester

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) April 30, 2016

That means Kyle Hendricks' turn will be skipped, and he'll likely start Thursday against the Nationals at Wrigley Field. Since Jake Arrieta is now going on Tuesday, that means he'll start the final game against the Nats.

So it all works out, and the Cubs didn't even have to open the ballpark when it was clear it would be raining until at least early evening.

I can't remember the last time the Cubs had two postponements on the same homestand. I'm going to post this article now and then do some research, and will come back and report what I find.

UPDATE: Posted in the comments, but also thought I'd post it up here. Here's the information on the last time the Cubs had two rainouts on the same homestand.

As far as I can tell, the last time the Cubs had two postponements on the same homestand was in April 1990.

That was the year the season was delayed a week by a lockout. So, the Cubs home opener (and season opener) was scheduled for April 9 vs. the Phillies.

They had a three-game series scheduled April 9, 10 and 11, with an off day April 12 before a road trip to Pittsburgh.

The April 9 game was rained out and rescheduled for April 12. They played on April 10, then the April 11 game was rained out, and they played a doubleheader April 12.

So, it's been 26 years since the Cubs have had this many rainouts in this short a period of time.