When it rains, it pours.
And following a rain delay Monday, the Chicago White Sox found themselves briefly without a first-base coach.
After a 44-minute delay, the Sox completed the top of the eighth against the Atlanta Braves at Guaranteed Rate Field with reliever Dominic Leone facing two batters.
Braves reliever Tyler Matzek prepared to pitch to Dominic Fletcher to begin the bottom of the eighth, but there was a brief delay because the Sox didn’t have anyone in the first-base coaching box.
Sox first-base coach Jason Bourgeois eventually emerged, and the game continued with the Sox falling 9-0 in eight innings.
The moment caught fire on social media, and manager Pedro Grifol explained the sequence Tuesday.
“(Bourgeois) is a great coach, really technical, detailed,” Grifol said. “He checks a lot of boxes every single day before he gets out on the field. We had our rain delay (that started with two outs in the top of the eighth), he had his headphones on, he was knee-deep into (outfield) positioning. The game started and he got caught.
“Personally, I’m OK with it, just because I know what he was doing. We had some balls drop out there that he felt we had a chance to maybe catch those balls and he was cross-checking his work. So, I’m good with that just because I know the individual, I know the person, I know what he brings to the table every day, how diligent he is about his work.
“It’s unfortunate because it becomes a story. But this guy is a really good coach. He really cares for this team and his job, so I’m good with it.”
