In a rarity, Giants win shortened-game protest

The San Francisco Giants on Wednesday became the first team since 1986 to win a protest filed with Major League Baseball and will get to resume a rain-shortened game the Chicago Cubs thought they had won.

MLB executive Joe Torre ruled on Tuesday night’s game at Wrigley Field that was called after 4 1-2 innings.

The Cubs were declared the winners by a score of 2-0.

Now, it is a suspended game that will resume at 4:05 p.m. Thursday with the Cubs batting in the bottom of the fifth. The playoff-contending Giants and Chicago have a regularly scheduled game set to begin three hours later.

A short rainstorm caused a delay of more than four and a half hours Tuesday after the grounds crew couldn’t put the tarp down quickly. The umpires said the field was unplayable and called it at 1:16 a.m.

MLB ruled that tarp had not been properly put away after its previous use. The last time a team won a protest filed with MLB was June 16, 1986, when St. Louis played at Pittsburgh.

There were two rain delays at Three Rivers Stadium, and the Pirates correctly contended those didn’t meet the National League’s 30-minute threshold for cancellation.

AP