"Randy Johnson's pursuit of his 300th win must wait. After a rain delay that lasted 3 hours 42 minutes, last night's scheduled game between the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants was called at 10:47 p.m. because of the condition of the playing field.

Johnson, the veteran Giants pitcher, will chase history in the first game of a traditional doubleheader. He will match up against Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann at 4:35 today. Fellow rookie Ross Detwiler will start the second game for the Nationals against San Francisco's Matt Cain.

"The field is not playable, and that's the reason we can't play tonight," Nationals President Stan Kasten said minutes before 11 p.m. "As you know, we really tried. The umpires really tried. We all tried getting it done. At the end of the night, it's not worth the risk to our players to play on that field tonight."

Heavy rain poured throughout much of the delay, but team officials were insistent on trying to play the game. Several factors complicated the situation. The historic significance of Johnson's start prompted fans to purchase seats. Today's forecast called for more bad weather, which makes today's doubleheader a similarly risky proposition. Plus, the teams have no mutual off days and they do not meet again after this series.

Kasten even announced the intention to play the game while the rain accumulated. He appeared with Giants President Larry Baer, and they had conferred with the umpires and managers.

After the announcement, Kasten and Nationals acting general manager Mike Rizzo could be seen walking in the outfield with the umpires probing the field. Water splashed from their feet.

"It was pretty bad out there. They did all they could," Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. "They wanted to get it in, and we did, too. But you don't want to make a farce out of it, either. We have two tomorrow."

Johnson is trying to become the 24th player in major league history to reach 300 wins. His appearance caused much anticipation -- and according to his manager, he was calm while waiting for the opportunity. "