NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees manager Aaron Boone, after speaking with bench coach Brad Ausmus, didn’t mince words about what they had just seen New York and the San Francisco Giants endure.
“That’s probably the worst conditions we’ve ever experienced and we’ve been doing this for a long time,” Boone said.
On a cold night when play started after a 26-minute delay, umpires suspended the game with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning, then called it after the minimum 30-minute wait. San Francisco had burst to a 5-0, first-inning lead and went on to a 9-1 victory.
It was 44 degrees at game time and windy, and the rain was steady throughout.
Boone had discussed the conditions with umpire crew chief Lance Barksdale and grew concerned as rookie Yoendrys Gómez had trouble gripping the ball in the sixth, when he walked four batters. Gómez’s fastball averaged 90.1 mph, down 3 mph from his season average.
“Lance, obviously, has been around a long time, myself, I was like: It’s pretty rough right here,” Boone said. “My concern was when the velo really dropped off and then it starts turning into a completely different game and that’s what I want to avoid.”
Boone said player safety was on his mind throughout the game. Yankees catcher Austin Wells said pitcher control was impacted by the conditions, causing some up and in pitches.
“That’s not fun. Definitely not something you want to see,” Wells said.
Gómez didn’t blame the conditions for his rough inning but admitted he had some difficulty.
“If it’s raining a lot there comes a point where it’s probably not the best to play the game,” he said through a translator.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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