Game in a rain delay already, who knows how long this will be before it starts or if it starts.. lots of flooding also..
Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus didn’t get stuck in any of the flash floods on his drive from Birmingham to Comerica Park today, but he said some of his players did.
“Took me about 50 minutes,” Ausmus said. “Wasn’t too bad. I went surface streets. A lot of flooding on the surface streets.”
The outlook for today's game against the Cleveland Indians (1:10 p.m., FSD, ESPN) isn't good. An Indians bus reportedly got caught in floodwater, forcing some players to hail cabs instead. But it sounds like the Tigers will wait all day to try to get the game in.
“They’re saying it could rain until 5 o’clock,” Ausmus said. “I’d be surprised if they didn’t wait. It’s in the MLB’s hands. We don’t have any call whatsoever.”
Ausmus said the umpires could say that the field is in such a bad shape that they don’t want to risk someone getting injured.
“Ultimately, it’s their call,” Ausmus said.
Ausmus said he and Indians manager Terry Francona met with the umpires to discuss the weather before Wednesday’s game. That discussion was about whether to start the game, based on the forecast.
“I think umpires are very cognizant of not wanting to burn a team’s or both teams' starting pitcher, because they know how important that is,” Ausmus said.
The Tigers went on to beat the Indians, 6-3, on Wednesday, in a game that was rained out after five innings.
Ausmus, like many in metro Detroit, got woken up today by a flash-flood warning on his cell phone.
“7:40, it woke me up,” Ausmus said. “My wife’s phone went off. Mine went off, exact same time. We both jumped out of bed."
When he was asked about today being the final regular-season game at Comerica Park, Ausmus said: “Unless we get rained out and have to come back and play Cleveland on Monday.
“It’s been a roller coaster, but we’re still here.”
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2016/09/29/detroit-tigers-cleveland-indians/91270002/
