From the Braves PR office, tonight's rubber game in the Braves - Cubs series has been postponed:
Tonight's game between the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, scheduled for 7:10 p.m., has been postponed due to inclement weather. The game is re-scheduled for Monday, June 22 at 7:10 p.m.
We'll have to wait one more day for Nate McLouth's debut in a Braves' uniform. And we may have to wait until Sunday afternoon for Tommy Hanson's first major league start. An interesting side note to that possible game change is that Hanson is a merely a really good pitcher so far this year in day games, as opposed to night games where he is a super-human. Here are his day/night split stats from this year at Gwinnett:
Day Games: 3GS, 0-and-1, 3.18 ERA, .231 BAA
Night Games: 8GS, 3-and-2, 0.91 ERA, .146 BAA
I wonder if this will play a factor in how the Braves rearrange the rotation, either keeping Hanson pitching Saturday or moving him back to Monday.
The make-up game for the Cubs will be on an off-day when the team returns from Boston to start a homestand against the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies... a tough homestand that will be made tougher by no off-day and a Cubs team that may be able to pull itself together by then.