DENVER — Mounds of hailstones and flash flooding on the dugout steps created a wild pregame scene late Thursday afternoon at Coors Field, forcing a weather delay.
First pitch was pushed back to 8:30 p.m. MST.
Here to deliver your Rockies lineup & first pitch time 👇 pic.twitter.com/TcvRJaxuCG
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 30, 2023
In the hours before first pitch of a game between the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers, a blanket of hail covered the tarp-protected field as heavy rain and severe weather swept through metro Denver and onto the eastern plains.
The hail accumulation was so significant, a dugout attendant was scene scooping bucket loads of hailstones away from the dugout doorway.
First pitch was delayed just before 6 p.m. as the grounds crew continued the cleanup.
In what couldn’t have been a comfortable experience, Rockies catcher Elias Diaz went sliding across the tarp on the field, clearing a layer of the pea-sized hailstones in the process.
The rain and hail mixed to create a mess of flash flood waters that gushed down both dugout steps and encroached on the corridors that lead to the locker rooms in the bowels of Coors Field.
A section of 20th Street between I-25 and the ballpark was closed down for a period before the game but reopened just after 6 p.m. with one lane of traffic in each direction.
Denver7 | Weather
