Why did the Orioles and Rockies keep playing after fans evacuated seats?
It made for an unusual stretch of baseball at Camden Yards, with fans taking shelter for their own safety but players still on the field. The reason was that those two decisions are made by different people. The Orioles decided to clear fans from their seats, but the umpiring crew determines whether the game should continue.
'They did clear the stands unbeknownst to me,' crew chief Bill Miller said after Colorado's 6-5 win. "We are concerned about lightning, but the crew did not see any lightning in the area. We saw it from afar, but we didn't think at any time anybody on the field was in danger.'
Fans were told to move around the start of the sixth inning, and it did indeed rain. Many spectators were still able to watch the game from sheltered seats with a view of the field. They were told they could go back to their original seats around the end of the seventh. The game was never delayed.
'I trust the fact that the umpires have our health and safety in their best judgment, and I applaud the Orioles for kind of clearing out the lower bowl and kind of mitigating any risk whatsoever, making sure that the fans were in a safe spot,' Baltimore interim manager Tony Mansolino said.
Miller said he was receiving weather reports.
'I was getting updates every half-inning from the grounds crew gentleman. He said that we were going to get hit by a big storm in a half an hour. He said at 8:45 it was going to come. It was going to be windy, it was going to be rainy and there was going to be thunder and lightning,' Miller said. 'I asked him to give me a half-inning update, and it progressively diminished. The storm was decidedly moving south. He thought the top of it was going to catch us.'
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sinner lukewarm on expanded Cincinnati format
Jannik Sinner on Wednesday gave tepid approval to the 12-day jumbo version of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters while confessing that he would actually prefer to keep the event to the usual one week length. The world number one will be defending his title at the final big event prior to the August 24 start of the US Open. Extending the ongoing Canada event - and Cincinnati - to 12 days with 96-player draws also means that WTA and ATP events in Canada will stage unorthodox finals on Thursday while play is beginning in Cincinnati. Sinner said that given the choice he would opt for the classic system of one-week events for an increasingly crowded calendar. "We (top players) cannot control everything," the Italian said. "The fans now have two weekends to hopefully watch some good tennis. "That is exactly what we need in this sport." But the Wimbledon champion who skipped Canada to rest after his triumph two weeks earlier in the final at the All England Club over Carlos Alcaraz added: "I would prefer a one-week event, it's something that I like. "But it's OK, I'm here and I'm very happy." Other top 10 players, including Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur, have also complained in recent days about the wholesale calendar rewrite which has the enthusiastic endorsement of the ATP and WTA. Sinner said that he enjoyed his time away from the courts, spending time at home with family and friends. "Then it was back to practice to try and get as ready as possible for the US swing." He said Wimbledon, where he beat Alcaraz after losing to the Spaniard at Roland Garros, "felt very, very special." str/bb
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Red Sox sign rookie phenom Roman Anthony to an 8-year extension
BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox have signed rookie phenom Roman Anthony to an eight-year contract extension. The team made the announcement before Wednesday night's game against the Kansas City Royals. Anthony made his debut this June. He is batting .283 with two homers and 19 RBIs in his 46 games. ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mike Trout's three-run home run (20)
Mike Trout clobbers a game-tying three-run home run to left field, his 20th of the season and his 398th of his career