KANSAS CITY, MO. – Brian Dozier spoke with reporters around 2:40 a.m. Saturday, after the Twins lost 5-4 to the Royals in a game that included a 3-hour, 3-minute rain delay, a 12-minute power delay and 11 innings.
As he spoke, the message board over his shoulder revealed that the bus times to the ballpark for Saturday's game would be 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., giving the players time to sleep in before returning for Saturday night's game.
"I'll be on that 4 p.m. bus," Dozier said.
Most of the team was.
It took 6 hours, 59 minutes of clock time to complete the game, one in which the Twins trailed 4-1 in the fifth inning but scored three runs to tie the score just before heavy rains fell. If there's no rally, the game would have been washed out and replayed in its entirely. With the score tied, the sides agreed to wait out the storms and get the game in. There seems to be a growing aversion to playing doubleheaders because of the havoc they can create on a pitching staff.
So the tarp was pulled on at 8:41 p.m. The next pitch was thrown at 11:44.
"I'm more of the mentality of trying to play a game when you can, even if it is late," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "It might have been a little different if we had a day game tomorrow. I don't like doubleheaders if we can avoid them. I was in touch with head crew chief Bill [Miller] and talked to [Royals General Manager] Dayton Moore a little bit.
"We all thought it was best to play if we got out there some time around midnight."
