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Game 5 of Series Is Suspended Because of Rain
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"And obviously, I made it with some significant trepidation," Selig said. "But had the forecast held, we'd have been okay."
It was 47 degrees at first pitch, with a light rain that gained intensity as the night wore on. Some players wore caps with ear flaps covering their ears. By the middle innings, the conditions were virtually unplayable.
By the fifth inning, home plate was a beneath a puddle, second base amid a lake. A small stream flowed between second and third.
"It was in bad shape," Phillies second baseman Chase Utley said. "It was not playable."
The rain came down in sheets. It swirled. It flew sideways. At any given time, there were more members of the grounds crew on the field than players, as they scurried around the infield between innings and during pitching changes spreading dry dirt on the infield -- only to see it dissolve in pools of standing water a few pitches into the next half-inning.
"What we look for as umpires is the integrity of the mound and batter's box," said Tim Welke, the umpiring crew chief, "and that wasn't compromised. But due to the velocity of the rain, the [grounds] crew couldn't keep up with the field."
The Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, after Rays starter Scott Kazmir walked two batters, hit another, and gave up a two-run single to Shane Victorino. The Rays got one of the runs back in the fourth, when Peña doubled off the right field wall and scored on Evan Longoria's single to left-center.
The suspension of play, however, did not solve every problem. The Rays, for example, already had checked out of their hotel Monday afternoon, with the intention of flying home after Monday night's game. They were left scrambling to find accommodations following the suspension of play, but couldn't find anything available in the city.
They were pushed out to the suburbs, where the rain that fell the rest of the night nourished lawns and gardens, keeping sensible people indoors.
