Wednesday night’s game between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles featured a strange scene during the top of the ninth.
With the Yankees attempting a rally to overcome a 3-2 deficit, third baseman Referee Tim Timmons took the unusual step of firing the Camden Yards crew off the field. This ground crew had gathered on and around the canvas, waiting for a potential storm to pass through the area. However, Timmons made a disastrous appearance.
Here’s a look at the unusual turn of events:
No explanation was offered after the match, but our best guess is that Timmons felt that the presence of the field crew distracted the players, who might be afraid that a rain delay would interrupt the final suspensions of a close match. . It was not like that.
Rather, the Yankees completed their comeback, scoring a couple of runs on a Brett Gardner single to take a 4-3 lead. Aroldis Chapman then registered and recorded his 27th reserve of the season getting a perfect ninth. (You can check out the full box score and play the record here.) For those wondering, the field team did puts the canvas on the field after the end of the game, as documented by Lindsey Adler of The Athletic:
The Yankees came into the night with an 81-64 record, which put them in a three-way tie with the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Toronto Jays for both American League wildcard spots. Each of these teams won on Wednesday, meaning they will enter the same situation on Thursday.
The Blue Jays finished with the Tampa Bay Rays by a 6-3 margin behind a 13-attack performance by Robbie Ray and a five-RBI night by Bo Bichette; meanwhile, the Red Sox blew up the Seattle Mariners in extra innings, scoring six runs in the tenth inning to win by a 9-4 final.