After heavy rain from Hurricane Irene pounded Fenway Park and the Boston area on Saturday afternoon, game one of a doubleheader between the Red Sox and Athletics was delayed twice due to rain; the first lasting for 45 minutes and the second for 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Even though the Red Sox had a commanding 9-2 lead during one of the delays in the top of the sixth, crew chief Tim McClelland said he wasn't allowed to call the game in favor of the Red Sox. According to McClelland, Major League Baseball doesn't allow the first game of a doubleheader to be called in order to create time for a storm to pass before the second game.
He was caught in a similar situation in 2009 when the Sox split a doubleheader in which Game 1 was called early due to rain in order to fit in the second game
"That was an aberration,'' McClelland told a pool reporter. "I talked to Joe Torre in between games [during the delay] and he said that was an aberration. According to the rules, that can't happen or shouldn't happen. They didn't want that. They wanted this game to finish.'' (via ESPN Boston)
Because of the ruling, the Red Sox were forced to sit through a total of three rain delays and play in a very soggy and messy Fenway Park for a total of 10 hours and four minutes. Luckily, they were able to win both games and clinch the three-game weekend series with Oakland.
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