04/17/26 11:25:00
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04/17 23:23 CDT A mid-April snow storm coats Coors Field as Dodgers-Rockies
series gets off to frosty start
A mid-April snow storm coats Coors Field as Dodgers-Rockies series gets off to
frosty start
By CRAIG MEYER
Associated Press
DENVER (AP) --- Play ball! And watch out for snowballs.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies were greeted by 3 inches of snow
that blanketed Coors Field as their four-game series got off to a frigid start
Friday.
Dodgers pitcher Emmett Sheehan took advantage of the frosty mid-April day when
he came out on the field in shorts to make a snowman about four hours before
the game's scheduled first pitch.
The snow stopped about three hours before the game began and Colorado's grounds
crew, which placed a tarp over the infield to shield it from the snowfall, used
a plow to clear snow from the outfield. By the first pitch, it was 35 degrees
and sunny --- with the only remnants of snow on the pine trees behind the wall
in center field.
It was the coldest first pitch in Dodgers history.
"It was a dry cold," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said with a laugh after the
game.
The bats were back out and the white stuff gave way to green grass after the
shovels slugged at the snow, which came one day after the high temperature in
Denver was 75 degrees.
In front of a crowd of 28,783, the Dodgers won 7-1 behind a pair of home runs
from Max Muncy and a strong outing from starter Tyler Glasnow, who gave up two
hits and one run in seven innings.
The start of the game didn't mark the end of the teams' weather-related woes.
The National Weather Service issued a freeze warning for the Denver area that
will be in effect from 8 p.m. locally Friday until 8 a.m. Saturday, with
sub-freezing temperatures dropping down into the 18-to-24 degree range
overnight.
"There was still ice on the field and it was only getting colder, but you can't
complain about it," Muncy said. "You've got to go out there and they have to
play through it also."
The projected high is 57 on Saturday, according to the weather service, and 74
on Sunday before reaching 79 on Monday for the series finale.
The Dodgers come in from wrapping up a six-game homestand on Wednesday in Los
Angeles, where the high was 73 on Friday.
"We were told right from the start the game was going to start on time," Muncy
said. "When you know you have to go out there and play, obviously the weather
sucks, but if there's no question of you may not play or may get delayed or you
may play a doubleheader, when there's no question of that, it's easier to just
kind of block out the noise, go out there and get ready. Today was thankfully
one of those days."
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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