CLEVELAND (AP) — After a rain delay of more than 4 1/2 hours, a couple hundred fans were left at Progressive Field when Sunday's game between the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Guardians resumed in the fourth inning.
The official delay was 4 hours, 33 minutes and the teams consulted with Major League Baseball throughout the break. With both clubs in playoff contention and not a lot of good travel logistics in the final month of the regular season, the decision was made to wait out the rain.
There is no official record for rain delays. In 2013, the Kansas City at St. Louis game was held up for 4:32 before resuming in the ninth inning. In 1990, the Texas at Chicago White Sox game never got started and was called after a wait of 7:23.
Seattle's Adam Frazier was batting with runners on first and second when the umpires called for the tarp at 3:35 p.m. The game began in a steady rain, which became a downpour while Frazier was batting. Seattle led 2-1 at the time of the delay.
The grounds crew made a brief appearance around 6:30 p.m. to drag the tarp into right field and dump the water into the outfield. The infield and mound were worked on before the tarp was put back on the infield.
An announcement was put on the scoreboard telling fans that more rain was approaching and a decision would be made after those showers passed through the area.
The game finally resumed at 8:08 p.m. in front of a small crowd, which cheered at literally everything that happened once the players took the field.
Both teams wanted to play a nine-inning game. Had they not resumed and the game been suspended, the Mariners would've needed to return to Cleveland after completing a series in Kansas City on Sept. 26, finish play against the Guardians and then host Texas the next day.
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