It's a beautiful day, let's play … three?

Bob Hille

It's a beautiful day, let's play … three? image

UPDATE, 10:50 a.m.: The historic triple-header planned for Wednesday between the Potomac Nationals and Lynchburg Hillcats of the Class A Carolina League has been rescheduled, according to a post on the Hillcats' Facebook page.

"In lieu of playing three games in one day, the Major League parent squads, affiliates and the Carolina League have agreed to make up the postponed games with Potomac over a span of two days," the message says. "We will now play a doubleheader today and resume the suspended game from Monday at 5 p.m. After the suspended game is completed, the Hillcats will play a seven-inning contest. Gates will open today at 4 p.m. The Hillcats and Nationals will play the other postponed contest on Monday, May 9th at 6 p.m." 

It's worth noting, though, that the "tripleheader" would have amounted to 19 innings of play, only one inning more than a regular doubleheader. The first "game" would have been the conclusion of a previously rain-shortened game. 

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Original post: Tuesday's storms in Virginia blew the Potomac Nationals and Lynchburg Hillcats of the Class A Carolina League right into baseball history.

The teams' doubleheader Tuesday in Lynchburg was suspended because of weather, and since they aren't scheduled to play again in the first half after Wednesday, they'll play an exceedingly rare tripleheader.

The first game will be the resumption of Monday's suspended game that was pushed to Tuesday with Potomac at the plate, up 4-2, in the top of the fifth. That game will go the usual nine innings, and the teams will then play two seven-inning games. If you're scoring at home, that's at least 19 innings of baseball.

The oddity left seamheads sifting through record books. Last time it happened in the majors was in 1920, according to BaseballReference.com.

Potomac is an affiliate of the Washington Nationals, and Lynchburg is an affiliate of the Indians.

Bob Hille

Bob Hille Photo

Bob Hille, a senior content consultant for The Sporting News, has been part of the TSN team for most of the past 30 years, including as managing editor and executive editor. He is a native of Texas (forever), adopted son of Colorado, where he graduated from Colorado State, and longtime fan of “Bull Durham” (h/t Annie Savoy for The Sporting News mention).