Giants' protest over loss to Cubs upheld, game resumes Thursday
The San Francisco Giants' official protest over their loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday was upheld, MLB announced Wednesday.
The game is ruled to have been suspended, and the teams will resume play at 5:05 p.m. ET on Thursday, before playing the final game of their three-game series at 8:05 p.m. ET.
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With the Cubs leading 2-0 after the top of the fifth inning, rain began to fall, causing a delay. The Cubs' grounds crew struggled to unroll the tarp in a quick manner, so even though the rain lasted just 15 minutes, the field had already become waterlogged. After four hours and 34 minutes, the game was called, giving the Cubs a win.
Angry that the grounds crew's error resulted in a loss, the Giants filed an official protest. At the time, the umpires said there was nothing they could do, since a mechanical error wasn't responsible for the tarp failure, which must be the case in order to have a suspension.
But MLB vice president Joe Torre found that the issues with the tarp problems were a result of it not being put away correctly after its last use. Torre ruled that put it in the category of mechanical issue, allowing the game to be ruled suspended instead of an official result.
More, from MLB.com:
Though protests are typically not upheld, [Giants manager Bruce] Bochy had been confident.
"I felt we had a strong case," he said. "We felt very strongly about it. I'm just thankful and grateful that they were open-minded -- [Commissioner Selig], Mr. Manfred and Joe Torre."
The last upheld protest occurred in 1986, in a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals.
The Giants entered Thursday at 66-58, 1.5 games ahead in the race for the second National League Wild Card.
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- Ben Estes
