Suspended!

It's never happened before, but what could we expect? Tonight's World Series Game 5 was suspended after five and a half innings. When will it resume? Certainly not tonight and it doesn't look good for tomorrow either.

My problem here is that the bad weather started early on. Major League Baseball allowed the game to be played through the Ray's at bat in the top of the fifth when this became an official game. The Phillies were leading 2-1. Despite heavy rains the game went on. Any stoppage now could mean the Phillies would win. But no, Major League Baseball, who has the final say in these matters, allowed game to continue just until the Rays tied the game in the top of the sixth inning. Then they stopped the game.

Under rules adopted in 2007, any stoppage of play when a game is tied results in a suspended game. Under old rules this stoppage would surely have meant a Phillies win, since the game would have reverted to the score at the end of the fifth inning.

It's almost as if Major League Baseball was hoping that the Rays would tie the game so that they could stop play and suspend the game. No, it's exactly what they were hoping would happen.

Whenever this game is resumed, the Phillies will be batting in the bottom of the sixth, but their ace, Cole Hamels, will be out of the game. Karma now looks favorably on the Rays to take game five. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, but clearly Major League Baseball would love to see the Rays win and take the series back to St. Petersburg for at least one more game.