The 111th annual Midnight Sun Baseball Game in Alaska, played in Fairbanks on the solstice with no artificial lights, was called because of darkness.

The annual game capitalizes on the city's 21 hours and 49 minutes of sunlight on the summer solstice.

The first pitch was at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, and the night proceeded to get darker because of storm clouds and the setting sun.

Alaska Goldpanners pitcher Joe Fernandez throws during the 111th Midnight Sun Baseball Game Tuesday night. The Goldpanners were leading the Kenai Peninsula Oilers 8-0 when the game was delayed, and later called. (Eric Engman/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner via The Associated Press)

The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks were leading the Kenai Peninsula Oilers 8-0 at the top of the 7th inning when the umpires called a 30-minute delay at 1 a.m. Wednesday to give the sun time to come back up over the horizon.

At 1:30 a.m., Goldpanners interim general manager John Lohrke said it didn't look that different and umpires decided to delay the game until Wednesday evening out of safety concerns. Lohrke said the game has since been called.

It's not the first time darkness has played havoc with the famous baseball game in the north. Lohrke said a team about 30 years ago walked off the field because of darkness.