Major League Baseball

Skies light up, lights go out, and Maddon-ness ensues at Wrigley

Published Jun. 22, 2015 10:36 p.m. ET

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With weather in the forecast for Monday evening, the Dodgers and Cubs stepped onto Wrigley Field for their series opener knowing the game could be halted by Mother Nature.

Instead, they were treated to an amazing cloud formation that look like something out of the opening scene of “The Wizard of Oz” as opposed the Windy City.

Then came the sparks, and we aren’t talking lightning bolts.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, with the clouds continuing to gather and the hosts leading 2-1, the lights began flickering, and so did Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who repeatedly came out of the dugout to talk to the umpires during a 10-minute delay.

The Cubs (yes, the home team in this game) then played the remainder of the game under protest.

"Just be a little more patient and wait for the lights. That was my argument," Maddon told the media after the game. "That's it. Nothing more complicated than that. I just thought it was inappropriate."

With one out and reigning NL MVP Clayton Kershaw pitching to potential 2015 NL Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant, a handful of lights in several banks went out at the ballpark. Maddon had multiple discussions with the umpires before play resumed, and all the lights appeared to be back on shortly after the game started again.

"We felt that we would be able to continue playing, that it was sufficient lighting," crew chief Jerry Meals said. "Out of the six banks, none were out. There was scattered lights out."

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was frustrated with the length of the delay with Kershaw on the mound.

"I'm not quite sure what Joe's arguing," Mattingly said. "But at that point, once they make that decision that's when you'd like to get on with it from the standpoint of letting a guy stand out there for 10 minutes."

“Obviously, I wanted it to keep going, but if they were going to wait for however long, just tell me and I’ll go sit down,” Kershaw told ESPN after the game. “I don’t know if Joe was trying to do that on purpose or what. It didn’t really affect me, but it was a good idea.”

And the delay may have indeed had an impact on the ace. While the Cubs failed to score in that inning, Matt Szczur, playing in his first game after being recalled from the minors, touched Kershaw for a home run. Bryant had already tagged the Dodgers lefty in the third inning (then added another off reliever Adam Liberatore in the eighth).

The protest ended up being moot -- the Cubs won the game 4-2.

But, Kershaw told ESPN: “It’s just one more thing to waste time. I’ve never seen a protest actually work. I mean, they won the game, so I hope they win their protest.”

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report

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