CHICAGO -- Yolmer Sanchez is known for his upbeat attitude throughout all phases of baseball life, from his walk-off Gatorade celebrations to his comical clubhouse quips.
But the White Sox third baseman was not thrilled with playing through Monday’s constant deluge against the Royals, leading to a 1-1 deadlock in the bottom of the fifth to be finished prior to Tuesday’s regularly scheduled contest. Monday’s game was suspended with two outs in the frame due to unplayable field conditions caused by four hours of rain.
“It was awful, to be honest. It was really awful,” said Sanchez prior to the resumption of the suspended contest Tuesday. “I've never seen a baseball game in those conditions.
“Somebody can get hurt batting, running, whatever,” Sanchez said.
Tuesday’s game was originally delayed for 2 hours, 55 minutes with the Royals leading 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, with runners on first and second, one out and a 2-1 count on Sanchez at the plate for the White Sox. The switch-hitting Sanchez was working left-handed against Homer Bailey, but when the game returned at 5:33 p.m., left-handed reliever Bryan Flynn was on the mound.
Sanchez delivered his game-tying single from the right side in an at-bat that took three hours to complete.
“That's the first time I've started an AB on the left side and finished on the right side. But I'm glad I got a base hit,” Sanchez said.
The game was delayed again at 5:38 p.m. with a 2-2 count on Ryan Cordell, with two outs and Sanchez on second. White Sox head groundskeeper Roger Bossard, one of the best in the business, explained Tuesday that a 30-minute window popped up to at least try to finish the fifth inning and make the game official, but they didn’t see a little red storm cell pop up out of nowhere on the Doppler and make that scenario impossible.
Bossard and his 24-man crew worked until 10:15 p.m. Monday, scraping off close to three tons of conditioner before starting to add stuff back on to the field. Bossard rolled the field twice Tuesday morning, after returning to Guaranteed Rate at 7 a.m., before rain came again in the afternoon.
“As far as the water, I’ve got a little meter out in center field -- one of the many things I’ve got. And I had a little more than an inch-and-three-quarters of water,” Bossard said. “A microburst, a one-inch microburst on a baseball field, is 64,000 gallons.
“I had roughly about 115,000 gallons. The field took it well. I was really happy with the drainage system. But once again, the infield clay is a different story. There’s a reason why we’ve got a tarp. We’re all set for today.
“Rough evening. It certainly wasn’t Disco Demolition,” Bossard added. “The crew chief [umpire Bill Miller] actually made the right call. We wanted to get that last out to get the fifth inning in. We don’t want to play a doubleheader the next day or in September. We’re trying to get away from that. It didn’t work out. He made the right call, and all of a sudden this red cell appeared, and it just opened up overhead.”
Burr to the IL
Ryan Burr’s 25th birthday Tuesday featured at trip to the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Saturday, with a right elbow capsule strain. Right-handed reliever Jose Ruiz was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte and was available for the suspended game.
Burr, who has a 4.58 ERA in 16 appearances, already has been on the IL this season with right AC joint shoulder inflammation. But White Sox manager Rick Renteria said this pain is located more in his right forearm. Burr will be re-evaluated in two weeks.