KYODO NEWS - Oct 18, 2017 - 23:11 | Sports, All

Three days after the DeNA BayStars and Hanshin Tigers slogged through nine innings of a rainy, muddy mess at Koshien Stadium, Wednesday's called game in Hiroshima left many shaking their heads.

Having won in the mud on Sunday to tie their best-of-three Climax Series first stage against the Tigers, the DeNA BayStars watched helplessly on Wednesday as their chance at a comeback in the rain was waved off by umpires.

Conditions at Hiroshima's Mazda Stadium for the opener of the Central League's six-game final stage were nowhere near as bad as at Koshien, but they were bad enough to end the game.

"It's common sense," umpiring crew chief Masanobu Sasaki said. "The decision was based on the way it was raining and the general playing conditions. The situation was not one where we could continue."

Which makes one wonder why Sunday's game was dragged through the mud even though officials said such conditions would have ended a regular-season game.

On Sunday, Kazuhide Kinefuchi, the league's administrator, said, "The decision was made based on consideration of the nature of the Climax Series. It was of extreme importance to continue the game if at all possible."

The reason Sunday's game couldn't be called before five innings, was because the tournament format gives any series ties to the team with the higher seeding based on their regular season finish.

With the final stage slated to open in Hiroshima on Wednesday without fail, the only possible days for makeup games were Monday and Tuesday. Because the Tigers had won Game 1 and with heavy, persistent rain forecast for Monday, calling Sunday's game before five innings would have handed the Tigers the stage victory, because the BayStars could only pull even with a win on Tuesday.

"Because the conditions over there (at Koshien) were much more dreadful, some may say we could have continued tonight," Kinefuchi said Wednesday. "But with the rain not letting up, I believe it was the appropriate decision."

Appropriate? Yes. consistent? No.

Sunday's sloppy decision was the result of the rule that hands tied series to the higher-seeded teams and the lack of imagination that games might be rain-hit in October.