Spring training baseball features some weird moments, and on Tuesday, that included a half-inning without umpires.
The Pirates hosted the Orioles in Bradenton, Fla., and Pittsburgh defeated Baltimore, 7-4, in 8 1/2 innings. However, the two teams had agreed beforehand to play a full nine innings even if the bottom of the ninth weren’t necessary, something that became available in 2021 as part of the updated COVID spring training rules.
Well, it doesn’t seem as though the umpires got the memo, as all four officials left the field after the Pirates got through the top of the ninth. So the two teams played the bottom of the ninth like a scrimmage without umpires.
While that half-inning unfolded, Pirates announcers Joe Block and Neil Walker had some fun with the fake part of the real practice game.
“This game that doesn’t count is already over, but they’re going to agree to let (Ofreidy) Gómez pitch,” Block said.
At one point, Block said that “there are no rules” and claimed that the Orioles didn’t have to catch the ball if they if didn’t want to. Block called the half-inning the “added on, umpire-less, made-up part of the ninth inning.”
The Orioles made quick work of Pittsburgh in the extra frame, making sure the two teams were not on the field any longer than necessary. All in all, the two sides got a funny story out of an otherwise forgettable exhibition game.
