Barring a significant change, the Miami Marlins and New York Mets will take the field Monday after all other teams have completed their regular season to play a round of baseball.
How did we get there ? Let’s review a timeline (all times ET).
The Marlins entered Thursday’s game with a chance to take a big step forward in the NL wild-card race, thanks to the Chicago Cubs’ loss to the Atlanta Braves. The Mets, long eliminated from the playoffs, had nothing left to play for. The Marlins currently have a half-game lead over the Cubs, as well as the tiebreaker, for the third wild card spot.
The game in New York remained scoreless, thanks to brilliant outings from the Marlins’ Jesus Luzardo and the Mets’ David Peterson, until…
9:19 p.m.: Mets outfielder Rafael Ortega, journeyman of the last decade, hits an RBI single to score a runner left by Luzardo in the bottom of the eighth inning.
9:32 p.m.: Needing a run, Marlins Jazz center fielder Chisholm Jr. doubles with a man on base to tie the game 1-1 and put the first run in scoring position.
9:36 p.m.: Pinch hitter Yuli Gurriel follows Chisholm with a single to take the lead, turning a deflating loss into a potentially massive victory.
Then it started to rain.
Rain has been a bane for the Marlins since arriving in New York for this series, as they were previously placed at a disadvantage when the Mets ground crew failed to get Citi Field back into shape after the rain Tuesday. It turned into a doubleheader on Wednesday, likely costing the Marlins a Braxton Garrett start in the process, but that was just the warm-up act for Thursday.
9:41 p.m.: After a few minutes of heavy rain, the umpires suspended the game with men on first and second and two outs in the top of the ninth, the Marlins leading 2-1.
It was at that moment that a crazy scenario was playing out, like rule 7.02 (b)(4)(A) states that if a game is canceled due to rain and cannot be completed, the score reverts to the last completed inning, which would give the Mets a 1–0 victory.
Fortunately, MLB really didn’t want that to happen. The league waited 2 hours and 40 minutes, hoping for a break in the rain.
00:21: The Mets grounds crew begins moving the infield tarp, raising hopes that the game might finally end before dawn. This tarpaulin was moved to left field, where it remained until…
00:37: The tarpaulin is put back in place. It was around this time that Marlins manager Skip Schumaker started to get very angry – or at least started to show his anger.
At another time, the Marlins X account (née Twitter) officially changed his bio to “We Have a Roof”.
00:59: The game is officially suspended.
At this point, MLB had a few options, including Rule 7.02(b)(4)(A). The Marlins are scheduled to travel to finish their season on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates, while the Mets will face the Philadelphia Phillies at home, assuming New York City isn’t underwater by then. The league could have decided to end the game Friday and introduce a doubleheader into both teams’ weekend series. Or …
01:01: The other option, which Marlins general manager Kim Ng told reporters and MLB is likely to happen, is to have the Marlins return to New York after the Pittsburgh series and finish the game Monday, via Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald:
“Without going into detail, this is obviously an unfortunate incident. Right now we are being told that we will have to play (the suspended match) on Monday.
MLB will likely cancel those plans if the outcome of the game has no bearing on the wild-card race, but if the Marlins are forced to play that round on Monday and actually make the playoffs as a third wild card, their reward will be a series opener. against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday in Milwaukee.
There was at least one winner, however: the San Diego Padres, who would have been eliminated by a Marlins victory, avoided elimination for one more day.