Umpire injury leads to outrageous Yankees-Astros Game 3 delay
As if baseball didn’t have a pace-of-play issue before, Tuesday’s ALCS Game 3 didn’t help.
The game,which the Astros won 4-1, was delayed by more than 20 minutes before the top of the fifth, when home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson was removed from the game due to a concussion.
Most of the delay was caused by Nelson’s replacement, Kerwin Danley, needing time to put on the appropriate equipment. Danley had been the second base umpire.
Nelson was hit in the mask by a foul ball in the top of the fourth, but remained in the game at the time after being checked out by Yankees trainer Steve Donohue.
After the end of the fourth, though, as Luis Severino warmed up to start the fifth, Nelson was looked at again and left the game.
The Yankees left the field during the switch, which had to be approved by MLB and the game continued without a left-field umpire, as Marvin Hudson moved from left to third base.
Severino went back to the mound despite the lengthy delay and after getting Jose Altuve to ground to short, allowed a single to Michael Brantley and a four-pitch walk to Alex Bregman.
Chad Green entered and got the final two outs in the inning.
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