The Giants and Dodgers changed their scheduled pitchers just before Wednesday night's game because of the threat of heavy rain at Dodgers Stadium. I'll let Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News explain:
LOS ANGELES - The Giants scratched Tim Lincecum and started Merkin Valdez in his place because heavy rain was expected to fall at Dodger Stadium Wednesday night.
The Dodgers switched starters first, replacing Chad Billinglsey with reliever Hong-Chih Kuo a half-hour before the first pitch. The Giants followed suit a few minutes later.
Neither club wanted to use a starting pitcher for two or three innings, then force them to sit through what could be a lengthy delay. It was expected that Billingley and Lincecum would pitch at some point during Wednesday's game.
Here's the Los Angeles forecast from NOAA.gov:
Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 11pm, then a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. Southwest wind between 4 and 7 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.
UPDATE: I'm not sure there's anything to this story now. I just caught highlights, and Lincecum is in the game for the Giants.
Good night everybody!
Rain eventually hit Dodger Stadium last night, not long after I made the below post and jumped into bed. The result was a 74-minute rain delay and some maddening pitching decisions. You can read the full report at MLB.com. The quotes of the night came from Dodgers skipper Joe Torre, whose team lost 2-1 to the lowly San Francisco Giants. 