Report: Stephen Strasburg 'Declines' Game 4 Start Due to Illness

Strasburg would be pitching on four days' rest.

With his team down 2-1 to the Cubs in the National League Division Series, Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg declined the opportunity to start Game 4 because of an illness, reports USA Today's Bob Nightengale. 

Tanner Roark was scheduled to start against in Game 4 on Tuesday, but the game was rained out and rescheduled for Wednesday. That gave Strasburg an extra day of rest; Strasburg last pitched on Friday, so he would have been pitching on four days' rest. 

Nationals manager Dusty Baker announced that Roark would start on Wednesday in a press conference shortly after the game was officially postponed. Baker initially said that Strasburg threw a bullpen session on Tuesday, which would have rendered him unable to pitch on Wednesday, but the team later said Baker misspoke and that Strasburg threw the session on Monday. 

Baker also said that Strasburg is feeling under the weather, as are a number of his teammates. Baker hypothesized that the cause of the sudden sicknesses were the change of weather, air conditioning in the hotel and/or mold in the city of Chicago. 

Strasburg threw a gem in Game 1 of the series, surrendering just three hits and one earned run over seven inning. 

First pitch of Game 4 will be at 4:08 p.m. EST on Wednesday.