Updated 02:44 PM EDT, Thu, Mar 28, 2024

San Francisco Giants Protest After Wrigley Tarp Incident

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The San Francisco Giants won the protest of their recent loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday because of a tarp mishap.

The Cubs, according to SFGate, won the game with a 2-0 score but after the Giants won the protest, the game will resume on Thursday afternoon as a suspended game.

During the game which was delayed by the rain, the ground crew of the Cubs fumbled the infield covering. According to SFGate, Major League Baseball declared the mishap as "malfunction of a mechanical field device under control of the home club," which is a clear violation of the rules.

It was, however, noted that while the game will be considered suspended and set to be resumed, a part of the protest was denied and this was the covering of bases.

In an announcement, MLB Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations Joe Torre said that after a careful examination of the circumstances, it led them to believe that "there was sufficient cause to believe that there was a "malfunction of a mechanical field device under control of the home club."

"Available video of the incident, and conversations with representatives of the Cubs, demonstrate that the Cubs' inability to deploy the tarp appropriately was caused by the failure to properly wrap and spool the tarp after its last use. As a result, the groundskeeping crew was unable to properly deploy the tarp after the rain worsened," Torre added in the statement.

In response to the MLB decision Giants CEO Larry Baer said that they appreciate the careful review done on the protest they lodged.

SFGate added that the MLB has spoken with Hunter Wendelstedt, the crew chief of the game, and has concluded that the ground crew did its best to comply with the chief's direction to cover the field. The MLB therefore ruled that there was no basis for the game to be forfeited by the Cubs.

The same article explained the rules on suspending games - stating that the game should be completed at a future date if its termination is caused by light failure or malfunction of a mechanical field device like automatic tarpaulin and water removal equipment.

An earlier report of USA Today, noted that successful protests like this are very rare in baseball, making the event historical. It noted that the last time a similar movement was upheld was during a 1986 game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates which was called before the minimum rain delay.

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