Friday’s game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves was able to resume after a nearly three-hour rain delay — thanks to a miraculous turnaround from the Busch Stadium grounds crew
A thunderstorm with lightning and pouring rain came through St. Louis around 8 p.m. CT, leading the game to be suspended after the third inning. The two teams were tied 0-0 at the time
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After a delay of two hours and 43 minutes, the game resumed at 10:45 p.m. CT. The Cardinals then got a 2-1 win in front of the few remaining fans in a game that stretched well past midnight
Even after the storm passed, the pouring rain left its mark, flooding several parts of the ballpark and making the surface unplayable. A clip from AppleTV sideline reporter Tricia Whitaker showed water flooding into the Cardinals’ dugout. Another from Braves radio’s Ben Ingram showed the level of flooding throughout the stadium
After the rain stopped around 9 p.m. CT, the Busch Stadium grounds crew went to work, rolling the tarp back up and removing puddles of water from the surface. They used broom-like devices to roll the water off the field, and used other gadgets to try and dry out some of the grass. The result was a shockingly playable field, after about an hour of work
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and Braves manager Walt Weiss then walked the field, determining that it was good enough to play on. Soon after they were satisfied, the two teams warmed back up again to resume the game
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In a mid-game interview after the game resumed, Cardinals pitcher Michael McGreevy said that members of the team occupied themselves during the delay with cards, fantasy football talk and generally keeping things moving — though he admitted that some players looked like they were “about to go to sleep” given the late hour
Austin Riley gave the Braves a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, a Jordan Walker RBI sent rookie JJ Wetherholt — fresh off a big eight-year extension — home to tie things up at 1-1
The rain, however, also resumed in the fifth inning, prompting fans to head back into the concourse, but it wasn’t enough to cause another weather delay
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In the bottom of the eighth, Jimmy Crooks gave St. Louis a go-ahead home run, setting the team up for a potential win
Riley O’Brien then finished the Braves off in the top of the ninth, with two strikeouts securing the 2-1 win
