Joe Girardi isn’t thrilled with MLB umpires after his New York Yankees blew a 6-5 lead in the ninth inning after a three and a half hour rain delay.
The Yankees entered the top of the ninth with a one-run lead, but after a serious rainstorm hit Yankees Stadium, the game went into a long delay. What happened next is the thing of nightmares. Girardi couldn’t turn to closer Aroldis Chapman, as he was on the mound walking one batter before the delay started. Girardi had also already used Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.
The rain is falling but Aroldis Chapman is ready to throw smoke as the @Yankees look to wrap things up! #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/6dLeH7CebC
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) June 28, 2016
Gotta love a top of the 9th rain delay with the @Yankees in the lead ….. Oh well overtime for me pic.twitter.com/axJld01EW9
— Brian Phelan (@briphelan121212) June 28, 2016
After three hours, the tarp is coming off the field. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/65Uqj2bqDU
— Chad Jennings (@chadjennings22) June 28, 2016
Instead, Kirby Yates came out of the pen to close the ninth inning and promptly gave up three earned runs including a two-run Adrian Beltre single which would give Texas a 7-6 lead. The Rangers ended up winning 9-6.
Girardi expressed his frustration at the turn of events, saying play should have been stopped sooner.
“I didn’t ask to stop the game,” Girardi told ESPN.com’s Andrew Marchand. “To me, the game should’ve been stopped earlier than that. We played in horrible conditions. I think you risk injury to players.
“It’s hard for me to understand what happened tonight, how it got to this point. But it did, and we lost.”
Crew chief Paul Nauert told ESPN that they were prepared to wait as long as they could as they intended to finish the game.
I get Girardi’s point. It’s not safe to play a game during a torrential downpour as players could get injured in the slippery conditions. But, the game was delayed and was able to be finished off with no issue. It’s tough, but fair. Although, it would be brutal to blow a lead after waiting three and a half hours to play a single inning. Girardi’s frustrations are well-placed, but the right call seems to have been made.
[ESPN]