Rockies, Phillies prepare for cold, hard facts at Coors Field

DENVER • The first time Pedro Martinez saw snow, he was on a bus across the Nevada mountains, fresh from the Dominican Republic and bound for Montana.

“I stopped to grab a little bit and put it in my mouth to see if it felt like ice,” he said.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner might experience another taste tonight when his Philadelphia Phillies play the Colorado Rockies in Game 3 of an NL division series that’s all square heading into a towel-waving, purple-clad icebox in Coors Field.

National Weather Service forecasters call for a high near 34 degrees and a low around 18 with winds between 5 and 10 mph. There’s a 40 percent chance of snow and freezing rain before noon and a 10 percent chance in the evening — no more than half an inch of snow is expected to accumulate. First pitch is 7:37 p.m.

If it’s not snowing and there’s no ice on the grass when Martinez takes the mound against Jason Hammel, the game likely will be played regardless of the temperature. Pushing Game 3 to Sunday would force Game 4 to Monday, leaving no rest day before a potential Game 5 on Tuesday in Philadelphia. Plus, the series is on national TV.

The coldest game-time temperature in the 17-year history of the Rockies was 28 degrees against Montreal on April 12, 1997. In 2005, the Cubs played the Pirates in Chicago with a 24-degree wind chill, caused by 36 mph gusts off Lake Michigan.

Rockies manager Jim Tracy said postponing the game “would be the most sensible thing” if conditions are poor. “You’d hate to see a game be determined one way or the other due to the fact conditions were not good — somebody slips that otherwise wouldn’t have if the conditions would have been drier and more conducive for baseball,” he said.

“Cold weather is tough,” said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, former coach of the Sky Sox. “It’s tough on a pitcher in some ways where he grips the ball. But it’s tougher on the hitters — you usually put on more clothes, and it’s hard to get loose. Also when you hit the ball, it kind of stings your hand. Even though you have gloves on, you can feel it.”

The Coors Field dugouts have heaters built into the wooden benches, and coffee and hot chocolate will be available to the players, along with a full complement of warm clothes — jackets, sweatshirts, beanies and gloves.

Hammel called himself “a cold-weather guy. … It doesn’t bother me. Humidity hurts me because I sweat like a pig. I’m not going to think about it. I’ve got hitters to attack.”

Martinez said he’ll spend more time warming up, then he’ll “just go and pitch my game. … Really, I don’t have to whine. There’s no crying in baseball.”