On the 50's show "I Love Lucy", when there would be a Lucy caused disaster, Ricky Riccardo would look shocked and puzzled and would say "What happuned?"
I was saying that to myself last night.
First the game was delayed preemptively by the Padres management and, of course, not a drop of rain fell...until the second inning. Then the skies opened up and we were in at least and hour and thirty-five minute rain delay.Play eventually resumed. Ted Lilly came back on the mound for the Dodgers but Padres starting pitcher Clayton Richard, who had a brilliant 1st inning, did not return and Cory Luebke took the mound. At that point the score was still Padres 0 - Dodgers 0.
Luebke did a pretty good job of pitching until there was a double steal in the top of the 4th. Matt Kemp stole second and Casey Blake stole third with Juan Uribe batting. A major throwing error by Nick Hundley allowed Blake to score from 3rd so the score was now Dodgers 1 - Padres 0.
Meanwhile the weather report didn't look promising and by the time we were in the bottom of the 5th it was clear, to even a layman like me, that there was a big green and yellow blob of the weather radar meaning another cell of heavy rain was coming.
Before the rain came Orlando Hudson singled in Will Venable. Then Ryan Ludwick was out again but at least these time it was a sacrifice of sorts allowing Orlando Hudson to score.
At this point the score was Padres 2 Dodgers 1...and it was now an official game.
That is when the first head scratcher occurred.
Home plate umpire Ed Rapuano had to know, after the fifth inning ended, that another big swell of rain was coming fast. Petco Park has a wonderful grounds crew and I am sure they had the latest from the National weather Service.Instead of delaying the game again and getting the tarps on the field preemptively like the Padre management did at the start of the game Rapuano let the players take the field in the top of the sixth.
Meanwhile the rain was starting to come down and was getting heavier by the minute.
Cory Luebke walked two batters in a row and finally was replaced...the score was still Padres 2 - Dodgers 1. Clearly the defense was having a lot of trouble in the rain and still Rapuano let the inning go on.
Enter Chad Qualls, who did alright considering the rain, but eventually allowed the tying run to score when he pitched to Kemp and he hit a single driving in the run...then after the score was tied Ed Rapuano decides to stop the game.
The other head scratcher was Qualls...he pitched fairly well but why not bring in Adams (who was used later in the night) or even Gregerson to make sure the Dodgers did not score?Corey Brock, the MLB Padre reporter offered this observation from his article that he didn't get to publish until nearly 3am this morning:
"The Padres had plenty of chances -- rain or shine. They were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners on base. On two occasions, San Diego advanced runners to third base with less than two outs and was unable to score.
This proved important, as the Dodgers tied the score with a run in the sixth inning off reliever Chad Qualls when Kemp -- who had three hits -- lined an RBI single to left field. That was right before another delay."
That seemed to be our problem last year as well. By the time the third rain delay occurred we should have had a score of at least Padres 4 - Dodgers 1...but instead the game stayed tied at two a piece.
Sixty-seven minutes later play was resumed until the top of the ninth inning. Matt Kemp just singled and the rain came again. This time Rapuano let the delay last 27 minutes until he finally suspended the game.
All of this could have been avoided if umpire Ed Rapuano had a brain and had got the tarps on the field before the sixth inning started.Some may argue that it wasn't raining much at this point but if Padres management could have the brains to get the tarps on the field and delay the game at the start why didn't this guy, who I am sure in between innings was told what was coming?
Had he done that it could have been declared finished after 5 innings since that is an official regulation game at that point and the Padres would have won.
But as it is the game will resume later today. They will finish up last night's game- still tied at two- at 5:35 pm PT and with the Dodgers having a Matt Kemp on base. After that game finally ends they anticipate playing the scheduled game at 7:05pm PT or when the first contest ends if it goes long and the tie isn't broken after nine innings.
People coming to the games tonight have to have a SATURDAY ticket, according to Corey Brock's article, and the Padres announced that tonight's game is a sell out.
Best case scenario- The Padres score first and win the game they should have won last night and do well in the next game.
Worst case scenario- losing the first game and playing bad defense and leaving way too many in scoring position in the second game tonight. That will make the Dodger fans even more cockier and self-righteous which will not make for a great day Sunday.
But let's think positive- that the boys will play good defense with no rain in their eyes and hit the ball when we have big scoring opportunities tonight.
LAST NIGHT'S PADRES MVP:
One guy that shined through the clouds of last night's game was Cameron Maybin. Before the tie game was postponed, Maybin was 2-for-3 with two stolen bases! Let's hope he repeats that again today and his teammates as well.
It really was one of the oddest rain delay games I have seen in my lifetime- here in a city where it hardly rains at all in the Spring and Summer.
Get ready to bite your nails tonight and let's hope that in at least one of the games tonight we actually BEAT LA!
Play Ball!
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