If MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is serious about increasing the game’s pace of play, he might want to look away from Wednesday’s Mets-Cardinals game.
In the fourth inning of the first game of a doubleheader, play was stopped for several minutes as the umpires went to video review to sort out…a mound visit?
That’s right. The Mets’ struggling offense was finally rallying, putting runners on first and second with nobody out against Kwang Hyun Kim, leading to a mound visit to try and calm Kim down. Only Kim’s interpreter was the first to emerge from the dugout, and then, after a second walk to open the frame, Cardinals pitching coach Mike Maddux wanted to come out to talk to Kim.
Wait, that’s two mound visits in one inning, right?
Well, after nearly 10 minutes of talking with the folks back in Secaucus, New Jersey, the umpiring crew decided that it was indeed not two separate mound visits, meaning St. Louis had not eclipsed the two mound visits in one inning rule, and Kim was allowed to remain in the game. So, to sum up, a mound visit rule put in place to speed up the game caused the top of the fourth inning to slow the game to a crawl.
This stoppage came just two days after the Mets and Cardinals were delayed in the ninth inning when the lights suddenly went out at Busch Stadium.
But the fourth inning stoppages didn’t stop there. After that extended review was over, Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizer was hit by a foul tip, leading to an injury delay, and on the next batter, St. Louis challenged a call that resulted in a fielder’s choice for James McCann, who brought in the only run of the innings, as New York’s offense failed to fully capitalize on a big rally after Jonathan Villar and Albert Almora struck out to end one of the longest, weirdest half innings of baseball this season.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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