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It does rain in Southern California: Los Angeles at San Diego gets rare rainout

By Jay Paris, The Sports Xchange
The Dodgers at Padres game was rained out on Sunday, a rarity. It was just the third rainout at Petco Field since it opened in 2004. Photo courtesy San Diego Padres via Twitter.
The Dodgers at Padres game was rained out on Sunday, a rarity. It was just the third rainout at Petco Field since it opened in 2004. Photo courtesy San Diego Padres via Twitter.

SAN DIEGO -- Two Southern California teams were subject to weather better suited for elsewhere on Sunday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres were rained out in San Diego, which had some checking the location and calendar.

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The game, only the third to be wiped out by rain at Petco Park since it opened in 2004, was rescheduled for Sept. 2 at 12:40 p.m. PT. It will be part of a day-night doubleheader with the Dodgers. The nightcap is starting at 7:10 p.m. instead of the original 5:40 p.m. to accommodate the early game.

Sunday's final contest of the three-game series, in which the Dodgers won the first two, was the first rainout at Petco Park since July 19, 2015. Before that, there was a run of 820 games since the previous rainout on April 4, 2006.

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The Padres called the game just shy of three hours before first pitch. They cited the unstable weather and possible thunder and lightning in the area.

The Dodgers may not win their fifth straight National League West title but they are keen weather prognosticators. They scooted ace Clayton Kershaw up a day and he beat the Padres on Saturday night, 10-2.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, though, had said earlier that getting Kershaw to the hill against a team he dominates was because right-hander Brandon McCarthy hurt his left shoulder while lifting weights on Wednesday.

"He tweaked his left shoulder," Roberts said. "He is fine. It is more of just a matter of him getting that extra day and that was the reason why."

That development, and not the weather, was the impetus behind the switch, Roberts said. Although he did acknowledge with the weather reports consistently calling for showers on Sunday, accelerating Kershaw's appearance made additional sense.

But maybe the Padres caught a break with the rain that hung around their downtown ballpark. McCarthy, who is coming off a year in which he was rebounding from Tommy John surgery and then was sidelined with a hip ailment, is tough against San Diego.

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McCarthy (3-0) has won eight of nine lifetime decisions versus the Padres, posting a 3.79 ERA. Among those notches on his belt is beating the Padres on April 6, firing six innings and being charged with four hits and two runs in the victory at Los Angeles.

The Dodgers had yet to announce if McCarthy would pitch on Monday when the Dodgers welcome the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.

Trevor Cahill (2-2), who was scheduled to go on Sunday, will pitch on Monday when the Padres continue their homestand with a two-game series against the Texas Rangers.

The Dodgers beat Cahill last month. He has split his dozen lifetime decisions when facing L.A.

NOTES: Padres C Hector Sanchez was put on the 10-day disabled list for a knee contusion he suffered in Friday's game. RHP Kevin Quackenbush was recalled from Triple-A El Paso. ... Dodgers OF Franklin Gutierrez had some tightness in his leg, which was why manager Dave Roberts removed him in the sixth inning of Saturday's game. He's day-to-day. ... Sunday's rainout benefits 3B Justin Turner, one of the Dodgers' hottest hitters, as he's been playing despite having a sore left calf.

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