With weather wreaking havoc in Pennsylvania on Thursday night, the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates had their game called in the middle of the sixth inning with a 1-1 score for Major League Baseball’s first tie game in 11 years.
MLB‘s last tie game prior to Thursday was on June 30, 2005, when a game between the Houston Astros and Cincinnati Reds was called after seven innings due to weather with the score tied at two.
Per MLB.com’s Adam Berry, the tie game will not be reflected in the standings for the Cubs and Pirates, and it won’t be completed before the regular season ends since it holds no bearing on standings for the playoffs or draft.
After the game was called, Pirates pitcher Ivan Nova, who was on the mound when the weather delay started, said he had never seen a tie in baseball.
“Never seen that before,” Nova said, per Berry. “I was hoping at least we could keep playing until we scored a run and we win, that’s it. It’s the first time I’ve seen that happen.”
Baseball Tonight tweeted out the last time the Pirates and Cubs had games that ended in a tie:
Player stats will be counted toward their season numbers.
The Pirates are fighting to finish the season over .500 and playing the role of spoiler. They will travel to St. Louis for a three-game series against the Cardinals, who trail the San Francisco Giants by one game for the second wild-card spot.
The Cubs have already clinched the National League Central title and home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. Their first postseason game will be played at Wrigley Field on October 7.
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