Power outage at Trop leads to 43-minute delay

ST. PETERSBURG -- Play was halted between the Rays and Yankees during New York's 7-1 win on Sunday, when the power went out at Tropicana Field. The Rays called it a "partial power outage" and the delay took 43 minutes.

The lights went out just after Thairo Estrada fouled off a first-pitch slider from Austin Pruitt with no outs in the top of the ninth inning, with New York leading 3-1.

At first, it was just the lights. But then the scoreboard and sound went out. The lights came back on later, but only for a brief period. Fans used their phones to beam flashlights, attempting to help the matter.

After the game, the Rays released a statement regarding the delay.

"During the ninth inning of today's game, Tropicana Field experienced a power outage stemming from a failure of a main switch into the building," the team said. "Rays operations staff identified the problem and were able reroute the electrical feed to an alternate switch temporarily so that the game could resume. We apologize for the delay."

The outage halted what began as a pitchers' duel between Masahiro Tanaka and Blake Snell, who combined to record 19 strikeouts.

"It was something different," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the delay. "We're just sitting out there and wondering what's going on, getting some explanation but trying to make sense of it all. You're ball-talking, you're telling funny stories.

"Guys were able to stay loose, but at the same time staying ready and able to come out and put together a big inning to put it away."

Estrada certainly stayed ready, homering on the second pitch he saw from Pruitt after play resumed. The Yankees went on to score four runs in the inning, all charged to Pruitt.

"I've never seen that happen before," said Rays outfielder Austin Meadows. "Kind of lost some momentum right there -- killed it a little bit. But it is what it is. Hopefully that doesn't happen again."

It was the second time this weekend there was an issue with the lights at Tropicana Field. During Friday's game, the lights momentarily went out in between innings. The game wasn't delayed as the lights were quickly restored.