Dodgers stink, literally: Game canceled after sewage spills onto field

By Amy Kaplan | Mar 28, 2018

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 27: Workers mop up water from a sewer line break causing the spring training game between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Los Angeles Dodgers to be ended in the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium on March 27, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ final preseason game was cut short after a water main break sent sewage onto the field and into the stands on Tuesday night.

The final game of the preseason Freeway series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was cut short on Tuesday night after a water main broke, sending sewage and water onto the field.

Let’s hope this isn’t an omen for a stinky season.

“Apparently in the middle of the fifth inning, there was a pipe backup on two different levels of the stadium,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said to media following the game (h/t OC Register). “We don’t know where the backup was or what caused it other than a main pipe here and a main pipe outside the stadium. The city is aware of it.”

The game was called after the pipe broke a the bottom of the fifth inning (The Dodgers were up 4-3).

“It smells really bad, man,” one Angels fan in the stands said to ABC News.

The Dodgers are set to open their season on Thursday and manager Dave Roberts assured the media that the problem would be resolved in time for opening day.

Mixed reviews on if the liquid was actual sewage or just dirty water were floating around the stadium.

I’m down here in the bowels (pun intended) of the flood outside the #Dodgers dugout. It does not smell like sewage. Im pretty sure it’s tertiary water #Dodgers #Angels #FreewaySeries pic.twitter.com/odIxsJtw6I
— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) March 28, 2018

I don’t know how clear this is from the television broadcast, but several Dodgers are certain that is sewage water.
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) March 28, 2018

The leak was primarily located outside of the Dodgers dugout and didn’t appear to extend into the grass, though it’s possible if the leak isn’t stopped — it could. Some reports showed that the spill carried into the first row of seats located along the third baseline.

The stadium, located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles opened to the public in 1962 and is regarded as one of the most historic ballparks on the West Coast.

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The Dodgers, who are pinned to be in the World Series this season, fell short of their first World Series victory since 1988 after falling to the Houston Astros last season in one of the most exciting World Series in MLB history. The Dodgers lost in game seven after a nail-biting series that saw the Astros take home their first ever championship.

The Dodgers finished their spring training 17-15 and the Angels 13-20.

The Dodgers will host division rivals the San Francisco Giants on Thursday at home.

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