‘A buzzkill’: Marlins players, manager Skip Schumaker react to suspended game vs Mets
For a little more than three hours, the Miami Marlins waited.
They had just rallied to take a ninth-inning lead in their series finale against the New York Mets on Thursday night — setting the stage for a pivotal win with the Marlins still trying to secure a playoff spot heading into the season’s final weekend — when the rain began falling down too hard. Out came the tarp, four outs away from the game concluding with no end in sight for the weather.
The hope, the Marlins were told, was that there would be a window or two where the storm would break and the teams would be able to get the little bit left of the game that needed to be finished.
It didn’t happen, much to the disappointment of the Marlins.
At nearly 1 a.m. Friday, the game was officially suspended. At the moment, the game is scheduled to be resumed at 1:10 p.m. Monday if the result would have playoff implications.
After waiting for a resumption that never came, the Marlins made their way to Pittsburgh for a three-game series against the Pirates, their final series of the regular season. They arrived at about 4 a.m., with most players saying they didn’t get to bed until closer to 6 a.m.
Four players and manager Skip Schumaker talked pregame Friday about the events at Citi Field unfolded on Thursday night. Here’s what they had to say.
Manager Skip Schumaker
“My job is to give the players everything I can to protect them and to serve them. My job is to have their best interests. We tried to get the game in. MLB did a really good job of trying to get the game in just didn’t happen. Ready to move on.”
The tarp was taken off the field at about 12:25 a.m. as the steady rain at the ballpark began to lighten up. It sat in left field for about 25 minutes, leaving the infield dirt exposed, while MLB officials, Marlins general manager Kim Ng and Schumaker discussed how to proceed. Mets manager Buck Showalter eventually made his way to the field shortly afterward.
Both Schumaker and Ng were visibly frustrated on the field as events unfolded. Schumaker even went out at one point and attempted to help the groundscrew as they were removing the tarp.
“There was disagreement,” Schumaker said, “and I’ll just leave it at that.”
Did Schumaker think the game could have been finished?
“That was my idea, yes,” Schumaker said.
First baseman/designated hitter Josh Bell
“It was pretty wild. I thought we could have played through from the get go, just with the importance of that game and that timing of everything. But it’s part of the story now. Back and forth, getting hot again, thinking that we’re gonna go back out there and seeing the tarp pulled. Hopefully we don’t need that game.”
Toward the end of the delay, while officials were discussing the situation on the field with Schumaker and Ng, Mets first baseman Pete Alonso made his way to the Marlins dugout and talked with Bell and Marlins center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. in an attempt to lighten the mood.
“He said ‘Assemble your crew. We got a pool table. We can settle it on that. Winner takes all,’” Bell aid with a laugh. “I was like ‘We need a handicap or something because we’re already up.’ Pretty funny banter.”
Utility player Garrett Hampson
“It was just kind of a buzzkill, right? We have the huge, huge ninth inning there and then to stop play ... we just wanted to get back out there and finish it off. We had all the momentum, we felt really good where we were, and we were hoping that we could finish it. Once it was called, you’ve just got to deal with it. It is what it is. That in the past. We’ve got to get ready for today’s game. The game doesn’t stop for anybody. So we got to be prepared today and come out and play well.”
“Playing meaningful games, I think that should [make it easier to move on]. It’s late in the year but I mean, these are why we play the game. We want to be in a position like this.”
Catcher Jacob Stallings
“Initially, we were told that there would be a window or that they thought the original cell was going to basically stop at like 10:30 and we’d be able to finish it then. And then at 10:30, we’re told that cells kind of combined together and they thought we’d be able to get it in at 11:30, And then at 11:30 we’re all just still sitting in the clubhouse. It just never stopped, so we kind of knew that once it got to be 11:30 that it was gonna be hard, not hard to play.
“I think everybody was pretty pumped up [at the beginning]. Obviously, we got that huge top of the ninth and still were threatening. We’re in the clubhouse, saw the Cubs lost, so everybody’s kind of amped up ready to get a win. As the night drags on a little bit, everybody started getting a little not tired but stir crazy, just kind of wondering what was going on.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2023 at 6:49 PM.
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