Do they get tonight's game in?

[OFFNY]

Do they do that any more? I thought a number of years ago they tweaked the rules, and now you generally suspend a game that has started but hasn't gone 4.5/5 innings, or is tied after five when the rains come. Nothing is wiped out, it's just continued at a later date.

The Pirates and the Cardinals game was wiped out 2 nights ago, with the Pirates leading by a score of 4-2 after 2 innings.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/pirates-cardinals-game-rained-out-after-2-innings/nXN49/

I believe this is correct. The Reds and Phillies restarted a game the other night and played one inning before the Reds walked it off 1-0.

They had already played 9 innings (5 or more innings.) In that situation, the game is continued, as was our game with the Yankees in 2007.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20130417/phillies-reds-suspended-rain-ninth-inning.ap/index.html

http://articles.mcall.com/2013-04-17/sports/mc-phillies-reds-resumed-game-20130417_1_reds-cf-shin-soo-choo-zack-cozart-joey-votto

When you don't complete 5 innings (or 4 and-a-half innings if the home team is ahead), the game is wiped out, even if one team is ahead by a score of 11-1.

[Dipper9]

I believe this is correct. The Reds and Phillies restarted a game the other night and played one inning before the Reds walked it off 1-0.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130417/SPT04/304170154/Reds-top-Phillies-1-0-suspended-game

Okay...so two games, two different outcomes. Is it because one was tied and after 5 and one wasn't? What's the rule on this? Anyone know?

[Dipper9]

The rule is the same as always. The losing team has to get up 5 times. Once it gets to that point, the game is suspended if it doesn't go 9. No more games ending after 6 innings due to rain. The pick up where they left off the next time they play. If it doesn't go 5, it's not a game, it gets wiped out, and completely replayed from the start. I think that's it.

So if the Birds are up 5-3 after 5, its not a win like it used to be? They have to finish the game? But if its 5-3 and the rain washed it out in the 4th, they completely delete the whole thing? I gotcha. Guess that makes some sense.

[OFFNY]

The rule is the same as always. The losing team has to get up 5 times. Once it gets to that point, the game is suspended if it doesn't go 9. No more games ending after 6 innings due to rain. The pick up where they left off the next time they play. If it doesn't go 5, it's not a game, it gets wiped out, and completely replayed from the start. I think that's it.

In the Yankee game that I referred to in 2007 that was continued, the game was suspended in the middle of an inning (the 8th) while the Yankees were still batting with men on base, so they picked up where they left off at a later date, and completed the game.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL200706280.shtml

However, 2 years later in 2009, the Orioles and the Twins game was called after 6 innings, with the Orioles being declared the winner. The game was not suspended and continued because the game was called after exactly 6 innings.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL200905060.shtml

Being that the Orioles-Twins game occurred 2 years after that Yankee game, I'm wondering if the rule still stipulates that a game can indeed be deemed completed after 5 - 8 complete innings.

[weams]

So if the Birds are up 5-3 after 5, its not a win like it used to be? They have to finish the game? But if its 5-3 and the rain washed it out in the 4th, they completely delete the whole thing? I gotcha. Guess that makes some sense.

It is like it always was. That rule is for the post season.

(Rule 3.10 and Rule 4.01 of the Official Rules). This also applies to the second game of a doubleheader. Umpires are required by rule to wait at least 30 minutes to see if conditions improve; this is referred to as a rain delay and is not counted as part of the length of the game listed in the box score. In practice, umpires are encouraged to see that games are played if at all possible, and will sometimes wait as long as three hours before declaring a rainout.

If a game is rained out before play begins, it is rescheduled for a later date. If it has already begun and rain falls, several scenarios are used to determine the need to resume play:

If the game has completed the top half of the 5th inning and the home team is ahead, the game can be deemed an official game. The home team is declared the winner, and the game officially counts in standings.

If the game has completed the bottom half of the 5th inning and either team is ahead, the game can be deemed an official game. The leading team is declared the winner, and the game officially counts in standings. (In some Minor League Baseball and college games, this scenario is possible only in the final game of a series.) However, if the game is rained out prior to the completion of an inning in which the visiting team scored one or more runs to take the lead, and the home team has not retaken the lead, the game is suspended, to be resumed at a later date.

If the game has completed the 5th inning, and the teams are tied, if the game is a playoff game (regardless of inning).

If none of the previous scenarios apply, the game can not be deemed official. The umpire declares "No Game," and a make-up of the game is scheduled for a future date unless it is not feasible. The latter occurs mainly among the minor leagues and college due to travel schedules, and only in the major leagues among teams that have been declared mathematically eliminated from postseason play where no benefit in the standings would be derived. The statistics compiled during the rained out game are not counted.

In the Major League Baseball postseason, all games stopped at any time for weather are considered suspended and continued from the point of stoppage when play resumes, no matter if the game has not reached the requirements above.

[OFFNY]

It is like it always was. That rule is for the post season.

Thank you, Weams. That's what I suspected.

[Dipper9]

It is like it always was. That rule is for the post season.

Thanks Weams!

[Tony-OH]

I wish there would be some news, I would prefer to not drive into the city and go to the stadium just to hear it's canceled when I get there

I bet they get this game in. They don't want to lose a gate by going to double header tomorrow so they will wait this out. I bet the game gets in but could be delayed.

[weams]

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/start_end_4.jsp

4.10

(a) A regulation game consists of nine innings, unless extended because of a tie score, or shortened (1) because the home team needs none of its half of the ninth inning or only a fraction of it, or (2) because the umpire calls the game. EXCEPTION: National Association leagues may adopt a rule providing that one or both games of a doubleheader shall be seven innings in length. In such games, any of these rules applying to the ninth inning shall apply to the seventh inning.

(b) If the score is tied after nine completed innings play shall continue until (1) the visiting team has scored more total runs than the home team at the end of a completed inning, or (2) the home team scores the winning run in an uncompleted inning.

© If a game is called, it is a regulation game:

(1) If five innings have been completed;

(2) If the home team has scored more runs in four or four and a fraction half-innings than the visiting team has scored in five completed half-innings;

(3) If the home team scores one or more runs in its half of the fifth inning to tie the score.

(d) If a regulation game is called with the score tied, it shall become a suspended game. See Rule 4.12.

(e) If a game is called before it has become a regulation game, the umpire shall declare it ?No Game.?

(f) Rain checks will not be honored for any regulation or suspended game which has progressed to or beyond a point of play described in 4.10©

[ShannieDC]

So what's the deal, yay or nay... I don't want to donate to the light rail fund for nothing.

[FlipCup]

I agree. I wish they would make a decision soon. I don't want to drive down the city for no reason if it's cancelled, pay for parking, etc.

[MurphDogg]

No shot at all tonight. Get ready for a day/night tomorrow.

I don't know why but reading posts with this amount of certainty bothers me more than it should. You can't possibly know that.

[atom_25]

They are never going to call the game before 7:00ish unless it is pure monsoon conditions all day/ night. My guess is that if they think they can get the game in (even playing through light rain) they are going to play. Neither team wants to play two tomorrow (especially the Orioles and losing the gate for tonight). I am heading down to Fed Hill for a couple of chillies and expecting to wait a while for baseball.

[OFFNY]

No shot at all tonight. Get ready for a day/night tomorrow.

I don't know why, but reading posts with this amount of certainty bothers me more than it should. You can't possibly know that.

The Orioles are up by a score of 3-2. The opponent has runners at second and third with one out.

"Orioles are about to go down, 4-3."

[DuffMan]

They are saying we should expect an inch or two of rain.