Dodgers and Angels to play doubleheaders Saturday to avoid Hurricane Hilary

The Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays, whose home state is no stranger to the ravages of Mother Nature, are in Southern California for weekend games against the Dodgers and Angels, respectively, and each series has been altered by … a hurricane?

It’s strange but true: Both the Dodgers and Angels rescheduled Sunday’s games as part of split doubleheaders on Saturday because of the heavy rains and high winds that Hurricane Hilary is expected to unleash on Southern California beginning Sunday.

The Dodgers will play the Marlins at noon and 6 p.m. on Saturday, and the Angels will play the Rays at 1 and 6. For ticket holders, Sunday’s rescheduled games will be the early games Saturday in both Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium.

“This is crazy,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Friday night’s series opener. “I mean, a hurricane, in Southern California? That’s unprecedented, clearly … but I’m very grateful they were proactive. It’s going to be an inconvenience for some people that have Sunday tickets, but to get ahead of it made sense to me.”

California

Full coverage of Hilary

An unprecedented tropical storm watch has been issued for Southern California as Hilary barrels north toward the United States.

Aug. 22, 2023

The San Diego Padres also moved Sunday’s home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks to a Saturday split doubleheader, with games beginning at noon and 5:30 in Petco Park.

Entering Saturday, the Dodgers have played 1,872 consecutive games at Dodger Stadium without a rainout, the last one coming on April 17, 2000.

Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías will start the second game. Roberts said he will go with a “bullpen game” in the opener, with right-hander Ryan Pepiot expected to be called up from triple-A to pitch bulk innings and left-hander Ryan Yarbrough probably figuring heavily.

Rookie right-hander Bobby Miller, who allowed one run and one hit in six innings of Tuesday night’s 6-2 win over Milwaukee, was scheduled to start Sunday, but he likely will be pushed back to Tuesday’s series opener at Cleveland, with left-hander Clayton Kershaw moved from Tuesday to Wednesday.

The Angels announced that right-hander Chase Silseth will start Game 1 and left-hander Patrick Sandoval will start Game 2.

Angels manager Phil Nevin, who grew up in Orange County and played football and baseball at Cal State Fullerton, still was trying to wrap his head around the weather forecast before Friday night’s game against the Rays. No tropical storm has made landfall in Southern California since Sept. 25, 1939, according to the National Weather Service.

“I’ve lived here 52 years, so part of you is like, wow, you’re kind of excited to just see what goes on with these things,” he said. “But I’ll be honest, the more I read about and hear about, I’m getting a little bit nervous too. …

“I don’t know much about the weather. Living out here, it’s never really intrigued me that much because I can wake up and tell you what’s gonna happen that day. Following it and reading about it, it’ll be interesting.”

One Angels player who knows plenty about weather is three-time American League most valuable player Mike Trout, a self-proclaimed “weather geek” who actually has made appearances on the Weather Channel.

“He’s already texted me radar screens and everything about six or seven times today,” Nevin said. “So he’s a little bit of a freak when it comes to that. He’s got it all mapped out. He’s got my home address on there, and what it’s gonna look like at my house. That’s probably what’s making me the most nervous.”

Staff writer Annika Johnson contributed to this report.