ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. - TBS had technical difficulties that prevented it from showing live coverage of the first 20 minutes -- and the first home run -- of ALCS Game 6 on Saturday.
The game started at 7:08 p.m. Central time, but the broadcast didn't begin until 7:28 p.m., when Carlos Pena, the seventh batter of the game, walked in the bottom of the first. TBS then showed a replay of a home run by B.J. Upton, the previous batter, that put the Rays ahead 1-0.
A TBS spokesman said two circuit breakers tripped, wiping out a key transmitter and its backup.
When the top of the second inning began, broadcaster Chip Caray said: "We again apologize profusely for the technical difficulties we had back in Atlanta. You haven't missed much."
Major League Baseball official Rich Levin said MLB was unaware there was a problem until the broadcast failed to come on the air. Delaying the start of the game wasn't considered because the starting pitchers already had warmed up, Levin said.
In place of the game, TBS televised an episode of "The Steve Harvey Show." A crawl on the screen ran several times, saying: "We are experiencing technical difficulties."
At the Cask N Flagon outside Fenway Park, manager Mike Fusco said the hour -- from the pregame show until the game was restored -- "wasn't real fun."
"People were in a little uproar because they thought we didn't put the game on. They were just screaming at us to put it on and try all the other stations -- Fox, TNT," Fusco said.
