SAN DIEGO — Kids in tank tops and Tony Gwynn jerseys romped through the rain in the bleacher seats. They danced on the stairs and stomped splashes through puddles in the aisles like umbrella-less Gene Kellys.
A hardy troop of young Marines sat through the storm in right field. Their posture was perfect. Two scofflaws sneaked on the field and turned the tarp into a slip-n-slide. They were apprehended like greased pigs and sent to the sin bin.
San Diego is a meterologist’s bored nightmare. Sunny and 72, ad infinitum. Baseball game delays are so rare here that 15 percent of the total delays since 2004 were caused by bees.
But the Rockies, they can bring the rain.
On Sunday, San Diego was a playground lagoon. Tropical Storm Dolores off the coast of Mexico washed rain into the city, sending the Rockies to a 16th rain delay this season and fans into a tizzy. This one, technically, was a rain-out.
Have you ever seen the rain?
Ok, Fogerty. You can stop asking already. Of course we’ve seen rain. The Rockies have answered yes to that question more than they care to count. The scoreboard operator needs a new delay song.
After a two-hour, 30-minute delay — with the Rockies leading 1-0 in the top of the fifth inning — umpires decided to scratch Sunday’s Rockies-Padres game. They’ll start over from the top of the first inning on Sept. 10 at 1:40 p.m. in San Diego. It was the Padres’ first rain-out since 2006.
“We invented it,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “We’ve been making it rain all year. I don’t think I’ve ever seen rain in San Diego. This is strange.”
The Rockies have been delayed by rain in Denver, Los Angeles and San Diego. They barely escaped a downpour in Cincinnati. And they nearly were delayed at Houston in June — and the Astros play in an indoor stadium! Tropical Storm Bill almost caused a safety-delay that day.
The May rain-delay in L.A. was the Dodgers’ first in 15 years. The wet-weather timeout Sunday at San Diego was just the Padres’ sixth in the 11-year history of Petco Park. The Padres were delayed one other time, by a swarm of bees (ppd, bees).
The Rockies have sat, napped, twiddled their thumbs, played poker and Connect-4, snacked, stretched and generally shot the breeze through more than 26 hours of weather delays this season.
Let the stormy clouds chase, everyone from the place. C’mon with the rain, I’ve a smile on my face.
Eddie Butler sang through the rain. The Rockies rookie pitcher, who was called back up from the minor-leagues for his first start in more than five weeks, allowed just two hits in four innings — both doubles to Matt Kemp. He struck out four batter. All those stats will float away. Officially, this game never existed.
“It felt good to get back out and attack guys,” Butler said. “Of course I wanted to get the game in. But I was happy with how today went overall.”
DJ LeMahieu snared a Justin Upton line drive in the fourth and doubled-up Kemp with a quick throw to a hustling Troy Tulowitzki to help Butler. And Nick Hundley’s single to center in the second scored Nolan Arenado.
For a time, it looked like the Rockies could sneak in a victory. Weiss and Padres interim manager Pat Murphy huddled with the umps for nearly 30 minutes while the groundscrew pulled off the tarp and prepped the field to restart.
The Rockies needed just four outs. If they finished the fifth inning with a 1-0 lead, the game would have been official. W, Rockies.
Weiss, though, sacrificed that opportunity.
“That just doesn’t smell right,” he said. “There was a really small window, they thought, possibly. There was heavy rain after that.”
Instead, the Rockies (39-51) slide back home on a two-game skid, having lost Friday and Saturday. The fourth-place Padres (43-49) pulled three games ahead of last-place Colorado.
“You want to play that game under typical circumstances,” Weiss said. “Would you restart a game in the rain if you weren’t just trying to get four outs? The integrity of the game is at stake there.”
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or
Looking ahead
Rangers’ Nick Martinez (5-5, 3.43) at Rockies’ Chris Rusin (3-3, 3.98 ERA), 6:40 p.m., ROOT; 850 AM
With David Hale (groin strain) and Chad Bettis (elbow inflammation) on the disabled list, Chris Rusin’s spot in the Rockies rotation is growing ever more guaranteed. Rusin was called up at Cincinnati in May for a spot start in place of Jorge De La Rosa (finger). But the Rockies have lost Tyler Matzek (demoted), Eddie Butler (demoted, then recalled) and Jordan Lyles (toe surgery). So Rusin has footing. Monday will be his ninth start and 11th appearance for the Rockies. At Coors Field, he’s 2-0 with a 3.32 ERA in three starts. The Rangers will call up Martinez on Monday from the Triple-A Round Rock (Texas) Express.
Tuesday: Rangers’ Matt Harrison (0-1, 13.50 ERA) at Rockies’ Kyle Kendrick (3-10, 5.94), 6:40 p.m., ROOT
Wednesday: Rangers’ Martin Perez (0-1, 5.40) at Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa (6-4, 4.30), 1:10 p.m., no TV
Thursday: Off
Friday: Reds’ Anthony DeSclafani (5-7, 3.99) at Rockies’ Eddie Butler (3-6, 4.80), 6:40 p.m., ROOT
Nick Groke, The Denver Post
