If you're leading at home and it starts raining after the middle of the 4th, just make sure your grounds crew knows to yewt around with the tarp, and then deposit all of the tarp's accumulated water onto the infield. All your manager has to do then is insist that for his players' safety he doesn't want them playing on it. Boom. You win.

No, I'm not saying it was intentional by the Cubs organization, but after about five minutes into the debacle that was the POST-rain delay, you better believe that they realized the rules as constituted would only punish the Giants for the Cubs' incompetence. What I AM saying is that there's now no reason for any other team in that position not to do the exact same thing intentionally! At least not until MLB actually holds its ballclubs responsible for allowing a game to become unplayable.

I get that the rules as constituted don't cover this situation specifically, hence, a protest would likely fall on deaf ears. That is the wrong answer, however. If something like this happens, and MLB discovers it NEEDS a rule, then the Commissioner's Office sure as yewt ought to be able to make a ruling within 24 hours so that the remaining game can be piggy-backed onto a game played later.

Shoot, in this situation, it doesn't even need to be 24 hours. In this case specifically, MLB can make the right call tomorrow, and the game can be finished before Thursday's regularly scheduled game.

If MLB isn't interested in making a ruling and rule on this example, they had better take a serous look at making the rain delay crews fall under the auspices of MLB at large, and not the individual clubs, so when this happens again, MLB can't just stand there impotent due to a loophole in the rules.

As it stands now, you've got one team with a playoff shot yewted out of the chance for a win by the incompetence of the organization of a team that hasn't got a chance in hades of playing in October. Who doesn't think one game matters in a postseason race? It's stupid that a team can be punished for another organization's ineptitude, and just as stupid that the employees of both organizations and the paying fans are held hostage while it all unfolds.