Sprinklers interrupt Indians-Reds spring training game

Baseball officially began in 2017 on Friday, but it will take awhile for every player to be in midseason form. Apparently, that’s also true for some sprinkler systems.

During the Indians-Reds spring training game Saturday afternoon at Goodyear Ballpark, the sprinkler system on the field mistakenly turned on during the eighth inning.

It’s tough to blame either team, though, due to the fact the Reds and Indians both share Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, AZ.

The sprinkler malfunction led to a slight delay, similar to the one the Indians experienced in Game 7 of the World Series when it rained prior to extra innings. This time (not that it makes up for the Game 7 defeat), Cleveland came out on top, 8-2.

The 25-year-old southpaw Ryan Merritt started. He has just one regular season start in his career, but fans will remember Merritt as the Game 5 winner for the Indians in the American League Championship Series on the road against the Toronto Blues Jays. He pitched 4.1 and allowed no runs on two hits and struck out three.

It’s easy to second-guess now, but had Indians manager Terry Francona elected to start Merritt in Game 5 of the World Series as well, that would have allowed Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin to pitch on regular rest later in the series. It’s possible that would have made a difference.

Regardless, Merritt wasn’t as good Saturday as he was in his lone postseason start. He yielded two runs on four hits in two frames versus the Reds. Cincinnati started Amir Garrett, who allowed one run on two hits in 1.2 innings.

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Indians outfielder prospect Bradley Zimmer led the way for the Indians offense, going 2-for-3 with a home run, five RBIs and a walk. Not even the sprinklers could put a damper on that kind of first day in the batter’s box.