The Marlins are in the midst of a hotly contested playoff race in the final week of the MLB regular season, and tensions are running hot as well.
Trailing the Mets 1–0 entering the ninth inning on Thursday night, the Marlins rallied thanks to consecutive run-scoring hits from stars Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Yuli Gurriel to take a 2–1 lead at Citi Field in New York. However, weather has been an issue all week in the Northeast, and Thursday evening was no different. Shortly after the Marlins plated two runners to take the pivotal lead in a key game, the umpires called for the field to be tarped.
After a 2 1/2-hour delay, there was a brief window where it looked as if the game could be completed. The tarp was removed from the field, and it appeared that baseball would be played. However, the grounds crew could not get the field ready quickly enough, and the tarp was put back on the field. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker was livid.
Manager Skip Schumaker in visible frustration over the way things have been handled tonight pic.twitter.com/TrqrvnNhMn
— Bally Sports Florida: Marlins (@BallyMarlins) September 29, 2023
Schumaker was seen getting extremely frustrated with an umpire and a member of the Mets’ grounds crew regarding the lack of urgency in getting the game completed.
The rain delay would continue for another hour before the decision was made to suspend the game following a delay of three hours and 17 minutes.
Despite the game being suspended, it wasn’t all bad news for Miami on Thursday. The Marlins moved into the third and final wild-card playoff spot in the National League thanks to the sputtering Cubs, who lost to the Braves in Atlanta. The Marlins lead Chicago by a half game and hold the tiebreaker over the Cubs after winning the season series against Chicago, 4–2.
The Marlins head to Pittsburgh for a three-game set in the season’s final weekend, with the first game of the series coming on Friday night. If the playoff race isn’t decided by Sunday night, the Marlins will have to return to New York on Monday to complete their suspended game against the Mets.
There’s certainly more to come here, and plenty of playoff implications still abound, but the stress of a heated playoff race clearly boiled over for Schumaker and the Marlins on Thursday night.
