ESPN News Services September 29, 2023, 1:18am ET4 Minute Read
The Marlins manager confronts the Mets grounds staff as the game is suspended
Marlins manager Skip Schumaker expresses his displeasure with the way the Mets’ field team handled the rain delay.
NEW YORK – After taking a lead in the ninth inning against the New York Mets, the Miami Marlins were again thwarted by the weather at Citi Field.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Yuli Gurriel had consecutive run-scoring hits to give the Marlins a 2-1 lead on Thursday night, but the umpires soon ordered the tarp to be placed on the field and the game was called at 12:58 a.m. Friday Clock interrupted due to rain after a 3:1. hour, 17 minute delay.
“Without going into the details, it’s obviously an unfortunate incident,” said Marlins general manager Kim Ng, who, when asked whether the suspension could have been avoided or whether the game could have been ended in the ninth, didn’t want to comment.
Miami moved into the third and final NL wild card spot when the Chicago Cubs lost in Atlanta.
Miami (82-76) is a half-game ahead of the Cubs (82-77), who finish with three games at NL Central champion Milwaukee. The Marlins finish with three games in Pittsburgh and would need to return to New York on Monday to complete play against the Mets in determining a postseason spot.
Miami holds the tiebreaker against the Cubs after winning the season series 4-2.
San Diego (79-80) avoided elimination for another night as Miami failed to secure a win.
“We’re trying to win a game,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “And we also understand what they want to achieve.”
Play would resume at the time of suspension if necessary to determine a playoff spot. Pursuant to Rule 7.02(b)(4)(A), if the game was not necessary to determine a postseason berth, the game would be canceled and the score would revert to a 1-0 Mets win.
Ng spoke for less than a minute. As the Marlins prepared to fly to Pittsburgh, no other players or staff spoke to reporters.
When the rain subsided, the tarp had been removed around 12:20 p.m. Miami manager Skip Schumaker had a lively conversation on the field with Alfonso Márquez, head of the umpires’ team, a member of the Mets’ grounds team and senior vice president of New York ballpark operations Sue Lucchi.
A few minutes later the tarp went back onto the field. The Mets left their dugout shortly afterward.
“We had two or three possible start times,” Showalter said. “We were ready to go and then it kept closing. It opened and we quickly went and pulled the tarp out but it was wet underneath too.”
The opening game of the three-game series was postponed Tuesday because of wet conditions at Citi Field, where the infield was uncovered for at least some of the four consecutive days that Tropical Storm Ophelia pounded New York City.
“It was a little show the other day — there’s a word in front of it,” Schumaker said Thursday afternoon as rain fell during his pregame availability.
According to a report from The Athletic, Tuesday’s rain necessitated a Wednesday doubleheader, impacting Miami’s pitching plans in the final days of a playoff race and angering team officials. Mets owner Steven Cohen apologized to the Marlins before the teams split in Wednesday’s doubleheader.
The heaviest rain on Thursday wasn’t expected until around midnight, but after Rafael Ortega tied the game scoreless with an RBI single in the eighth inning, the Marlins began their rally in pouring rain.
Bryan De La Cruz hit a single off Grant Hartwig in the ninth and Garrett Hampson struck out. Chisholm greeted Anthony Kay with a double and scored on Gurriel’s close single. Xavier Edwards flied out and Jon Berti sank Gurriel to second before play was suspended at 21:41
“We knew they obviously wanted to play and that the game had an impact on them,” Mets starter David Peterson said. “So we were just told to wait and see what happened.”
Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo allowed four hits, struck out 10 and walked one in 7⅓ innings on Thursday. His 208 strikeouts are the most for a Miami left-hander.
Peterson struck out eight hits in seven innings for the Mets, lowering his ERA to 5.03. He was demoted to Triple-A on May 16 with an 8.08 ERA, but posted a 3.38 ERA in his last 19 appearances after being recalled on June 26.
“Long, pretty boring,” Peterson said of the delay. “Ready to go home.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.