San Francisco Giants file protest with MLB over failed tarp

Aug 19, 2014; Chicago, IL, Grounds crew workers put the tarp down as rain delayed the Chicago Cubs game against the San Francisco Giants in the fifth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 19, 2014; Chicago, IL, Grounds crew workers put the tarp down as rain delayed the Chicago Cubs game against the San Francisco Giants in the fifth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The San Francisco Giants aren’t happy with how the Chicago Cubs grounds crew handled the poor placement of the infield tarp on Tuesday night, eventually costing the Giants a game in the standings after a four-hour delay for nothing more than a ten minute rain shower.

More from MLB

Giants manager Bruce Bochy vented his frustrations after the game and the normally mild mannered skipper couldn’t help but leave the postgame conference without dropping a few vulgar bombs on his way out.

Umpires allowed San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey to continue his at-bat during the dumping of rain and once such concluded, the game was halted for the delay. Of course, Posey’s out came in the top half of the fifth inning which made the game official.

That led to the botched tarp attempt and the Giants’ eventual loss, a significant blow given their place in the standings and pennant race.

Now the San Francisco Giants, hoping commissioner Bud Selig will invoke his ‘best interest of the game’ power, have filed an official protest with the league says CSN Bay Area.

"A Giants official said via text message Wednesday morning “we are going to confirm that we have filed a protest but are going to hold off on discussing any specifics.”"

If the situation sounds familiar, that’s because in July the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees went through a similar scenario, though tarp problems in the Bronx were due to weather – not human error which occurred at Wrigley Field.

It seems unlikely that MLB will side with the San Francisco Giants, but they do seem to have a point.