Pittsburgh Pirates legend Andrew McCutchen has seen a lot during his storied 16-year career in Major League Baseball. However, McCutchen may have experienced a rare first during Tuesday's game against the San Diego Padres.
With heavy rain storms entering the Pittsburgh area around 7:00 p.m. ET during the second inning, the game entered a delay. It was expected to resume at 8:15, however, a drainage issue that caused the warning track to flood ended up causing the pause to extend until 9:40.
McCutchen shared in many fans' frustration and confusion about why the delay was taking so long.
“What’s up guys. Idk what we’re doing😂,” McCutchen wrote on X, formerly Twitter at 9:16 during the extended delay.
The Pirates released a statement explaining the issue to Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
“Due to the quick, intense rain causing a flash flood effect on the warning track, the drainage system was overrun by dirt flowing off of the warning track,” the Pirates said. “PNC Park crews are working to clear the drains and divert the water to other areas.”
Flooded warning track delays Padres/Pirates
The Padres and Pirates were both scoreless before the game was delayed by rain in the bottom of the second inning. Once the rain stopped and the grounds crew began to get the field ready for play to resume, it was clear there was an issue with the warning track.
The PNC Park grounds crew could be seen using brooms and squeegees to push water that had pooled up on the warning track towards the bullpen, working as fast as they could to make the field playable again. Because of the lengthy delay, Padres ace Dylan Cease, who started the game, had to exit early, effectively wasting one of his starts. Once play resumed, San Diego earned a 6-0 victory.
The delay could have a real impact on the standings, with the both teams in the thick of the tightly-contested National League Wild Card race. The Padres currently own the first spot and the Pirates are four games back of the third spot.
If McCutchen, one of the oldest and most experienced players in baseball, hadn't seen anything like this before like his Tweet says, then it's safe to say this is a truly unique experience. Hopefully the lengthy delay does not have any significant impact on the Wild Card and both the Padres and Pirates can laugh about this, like McCutchen did online during the pause.
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