CINCINNATI -- Wasting no time with a poor forecast calling for steady rain, the Reds on Wednesday afternoon postponed Thursday's Opening Day game vs. the Nationals.
The game was rescheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET Friday. All festivities scheduled for Opening Day will take place at the same times on Friday.
"We're going to have rain tonight and all the way into tomorrow night," Reds president and chief operating officer Phil Castellini said. "There were some scenarios where it might lighten up enough late in the afternoon/evening, but again, never stop."
The last time the Reds had to postpone Opening Day was 1996 -- vs. the Expos -- when home plate umpire John McSherry died. The last time rain moved the opener for Cincinnati was 1966 -- vs. the Mets -- when the whole three-game series was washed out and the Reds wound up opening on the road at Philadelphia.
Castellini and the Reds didn't want to grind through a delay only to not have a game played.
"The conditions of the field, the fact you would have had players waiting for 6 to 8 hours only to have to bang the game at 8 [or] 10 p.m. tomorrow night," Castellini said. "Trust me, we do not cancel games here lightly. There was no scenario in the forecast opening up, at all, to get in a game."
Homer Bailey will make the start for the Reds against Washington's Max Scherzer. Temperatures are expected to be chilly with highs in the 50s, but it is expected to be dry.
If fans can't come to the rescheduled game, their tickets can be exchanged for another regular season game in 2018.