Lighting failure leads to Dodgers-Nationals game being suspended
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals are kicking off the second half with what many feel will be a postseason preview.
It’s definitely one of baseball’s current marquee matchups, especially when you consider the star-studded starting rotations featured by both teams and the presence of superstar outfielders Bryce Harper and Yasiel Puig.
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There was one little problem though. During Friday’s opener, the lights weren’t nearly as bright as they should have been. In fact, one bank of lights at Nationals Park in Washington malfunctioned multiple times, leading to the game being suspended in the sixth inning.
The game will resume on Saturday with Washington leading 3-2. Yunel Escobar hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to give Washington the lead. The home run immediately followed the second extended delay stemming from the lighting issues.
The first delay occurred in the fourth inning, not long after the lights were originally turned on.
The official time of the outage was 8:19 p.m. ET.
As one can gather from the photo, there was still daylight at the time of the initial outage. However, the lighting around the home plate area was not up to standard and was considered a danger, so the players were pulled off the field until the lights came back.
Unfortunately, it proved to be anything but a mini problem. The delay dragged on… and on… and on with no signs of life or light.
Finally, a little over an hour after the outage, the lights flickered on. The game was then resumed at 9:42 p.m. ET, with both sides being afforded ample time to warm up after sitting for so long. Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger actually returned to the mound to the finish the fourth inning, while Washington start Jordan Zimmermann was pulled.
The teams got through the fourth inning and the top half of the fifth, but the action would be a tease as the lights again failed between innings.
The game would resume again following a signficantly shorter delay, but the umpires decided to suspened the game when they went out again one inning later.
We’ve definitely seen our share of lighting failures and power delays over the years, but rarely on this level. When it happens, we make a few jokes about not paying the electricity bills on social media with the expectation that baseball will resume in short order.
Not on Friday, and needless to say the whole ordeal isn’t sitting well with fans.
Well, actually, there was good reason. But we certainly understand the frustration.
It wasn’t only the fans looking for ways to stay entertained though.
Yeah, that probably wasn’t a proud moment. But on nights like these, sometimes you just have to swallow your pride.
Here’s hoping for a better Saturday in Washington.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
