Rain Delays, Suspended Games and Official Games

By 4Baseball Staff · November 5, 2026 · 13 min read

When a baseball game becomes official, what happens to the score when rain stops play mid-inning, how suspended games resume and why a tarp, a curfew or a tie changes the result. Worked examples for each case.

A baseball game has no clock, which means that weather is the one force that can end it early without anyone deciding to. Rain, lightning, fog or a failed light tower can stop play at any moment, and the rules then have to answer questions that no other major sport faces in quite the same form. Does the game count? What is the score? If it does not count, do the batting averages and home runs disappear? If it resumes later, who is allowed to play?

The short version is this. A game becomes official after five complete innings (or four and a half if the home team is ahead), at which point it can usually end by weather and the result stands. If rain stops it earlier, the major-league rules now suspend the game and finish it later from the exact point where it stopped, so nothing is erased and nothing is replayed from the start; that was the old practice. Suspension is also the rule for curfews, equipment failures, tied games and some games in which the visitors have just taken the lead. The rest of this article explains each case with examples. The rules quoted here follow the 2022 edition of the Official Baseball Rules, and the details can be revised, so check the current rulebook for exact wording.

Before the first pitch: postponement and the home club

The decision to postpone a game that has not started belongs to the home club, usually working with the league office and the umpires. The visiting team cannot ask for a postponement, and the home club has a practical reason to decide early: fans, television partners, and the visiting team's travel plans all depend on it. Teams commonly announce postponements well before the scheduled start when a forecast is clear, and in the worst cases they hold the fans and wait.

Once the umpires have the game, the authority changes. The umpire-in-chief, the crew chief, decides when to stop play, when to resume and when to call the game for good. Managers can argue with a call during a game, but not with a weather decision, which is the umpire-in-chief's alone. That authority exists so that a team that is losing cannot stall for rain and a team that is winning cannot refuse to leave the field for the sake of getting the game in.

That last point is a rule, not a courtesy. The rulebook lets umpires forfeit a game against a club that deliberately delays play in hopes of a rainout. In practice such cases are rare, because the umpires can see the weather and the scoreboard as well as the managers can.

The tarp, the grounds crew and the delay

When rain starts, the grounds crew covers the infield with a tarpaulin. The tarp protects the infield dirt and the area around the bases and mound, where a wet surface is the most dangerous for players and the most difficult to dry. Some parks cover the pitcher's mound and home plate area separately. The outfield grass generally goes uncovered, so a long storm soaks it and the delay stretches while it drains.

The home club's grounds crew is responsible for getting the field playable again, and the umpires judge whether it is. A field can look dry and still be unfit, since a puddle in the base path or a slick warning track can produce injuries even when the sky has cleared. This is why delays can last long after the rain has stopped. The crew spreads drying agents, rolls up the tarp, repairs the mound and batter's boxes and often rakes the infield before the umpires inspect it.

A delay changes strategy as well as the field. A starting pitcher who sits through a long delay has cooled down and may not return, so a delay in the middle of a start can end it, and a bullpen can be used up by a game that is then called. Managers know this and often plan their substitutions around a radar map.

Rain is not the only reason for delays. Lightning is a safety reason for stopping play, and clubs follow league protocols when it is near. Fog can make the outfield invisible to the umpires. A failure in the lights or a malfunction of the tarp or other field equipment can also stop play, and in those cases the game is suspended instead of called, as explained below.

When a game becomes official

An official game, or regulation game, is one that has gone far enough for the result to count if play must stop. The standard rule is five complete innings. There is one adjustment for the home team's half of the inning, since the home team does not bat in the bottom of the ninth when it is ahead. The same reasoning applies at five innings: if the home team is ahead after the visitors have batted in the fifth, the home team does not need to bat, and the game is official after four and a half innings.

This table describes the main cases for the major leagues. The weather lines are the ones most likely to be revised from time to time, and they changed in recent years, so a reader who needs the exact current wording should consult the Official Baseball Rules. Postseason games follow their own provisions and are not called official early. Historically, tied games called by weather were sometimes recorded as ties and replayed in full, a practice that is no longer standard in the major leagues.

What the score is when an inning is unfinished

Baseball has a special rule for a game that is already official and is called in the middle of an inning. Older rulebooks sent the score back to what it was at the end of the last complete inning. Under the current major-league rule the question is whether the home team has had its chance to answer. If the visitors have scored in the unfinished inning to take the lead and the home team has not retaken it, the game is suspended and finished later. If the home team has retaken the lead, the game ends where it stands. Three examples show how the rule works.

In the first, the home team leads 3-2 after five innings and the visitors score twice in the top of the sixth to lead 4-3. Rain stops play in the bottom of the sixth before the home team has retaken the lead. The visitors took the lead in an inning that is not complete and the home team has not answered, so the game is suspended. It resumes later in the bottom of the sixth with the same score, outs, count and runners, and the visitors' two runs stay on the board.

In the second, the home team again leads 3-2 after five and the visitors score twice in the top of the sixth to make it 4-3. In the bottom of the sixth the home team scores two runs to lead 5-4, and then the rain ends the game. Because the home team retook the lead in the unfinished inning, the score at the moment play stopped stands, and the home team wins 5-4. Notice that the visitors' two runs count in this case, since they are part of the running score on the day the home team went ahead.

In the third, the home team trails 4-3 entering the bottom of the seventh, ties it 4-4 and the rain returns. A regulation game called with the score tied is suspended under the rulebook, so it is finished later from that exact point. The older reversion to the last complete inning survives in one place only, a suspended game that is still unfinished after the two clubs' last meeting of the season. Edge cases, such as visitors who add to a lead they already held, are decided by the rulebook and the crew.

The logic behind the rule is fairness. The home team bats last, and if it has retaken the lead, it should not lose that advantage because the weather arrived before the umpire could end the inning. The visitors have had their turn and do not gain from a stoppage that comes before the home team has had its.

Suspended games: picking up where they stopped

A suspended game is different from a called game. In a called game the umpires end play and the result stands. In a suspended game, play stops and is to be resumed later with the same score, the same inning, the same count, the same outs and the same runners on base. The usual causes are a curfew or time limit set by league rule, a failure of the lights or other equipment, a malfunction of the tarp or water-removal equipment, weather that stops a game before it is official, weather that stops an official game while the visitors have just taken the lead, and an official game called with the score tied.

A suspended game is normally finished before the teams' next scheduled game, often as the first half of a doubleheader. If the teams do not meet again, the rulebook has end-of-season provisions, and in some cases a game that cannot affect the standings is not completed. The exact provisions are in the Official Baseball Rules.

Resumption raises questions about who can play. The lineup is carried over, and a player who had already left the game before the suspension may not return, just as in any game. A player who was in the lineup but is no longer with the club may be replaced by a player who was not in the game, and the rulebook spells out which players may be used in the resumed portion. The ordinary rules on lineups and substitutions are explained in the lineup card, substitutions and the double switch.

Famous suspended games show the range. In 1983 the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees played the so-called Pine Tar Game, in which a home run by George Brett was nullified for excess pine tar on his bat and then restored when the American League president upheld the Royals' protest. The remainder of the game was played weeks later, on August 18, with only a few outs remaining. That was a resumption after a protest, not a weather suspension, but it shows how the same mechanism can be applied. In 1984 the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers played a game that lasted 25 innings and was spread across two nights because of the American League's curfew rule.

Postponements, old no-games and the missing statistics

A game postponed before the first pitch is a no-game under the rulebook and is rescheduled in full. The old rule for rain was harsher. Until recent years a game called by weather before it was official was also a no-game: the statistics were erased and the game was replayed from the beginning, perhaps with different starting pitchers. A player's home run in a game rained out in the third inning did not count, and a hitter who went 3 for 3 before the delay lost the hits. Major League Baseball began suspending and resuming such games in 2020, and the rulebook now provides for it. Other leagues and levels may still replay them, so check the rules that apply.

A famous example of the old rule came at Wrigley Field on August 8, 1988, when the Chicago Cubs played their first scheduled night game and rain ended it in the fourth inning, before it became official. The first official night game at Wrigley took place the following evening. The park's long history without lights is described in the Wrigley Field ballpark guide, and the episode shows that the five-inning rule once applied to historic occasions as well as ordinary ones.

Once a game is official, everything counts. Home runs, strikeouts, hits and errors all go into the statistics, even if the game ended in the sixth inning. The box score will note that the game was shortened by rain, and readers should know where to look, which is covered in how to read a baseball box score.

What a short game does to individual records

A rain-shortened game raises questions about individual accomplishments. A no-hitter or perfect game must last at least nine innings to be recognized under the standard adopted by the major leagues' statistical committee in 1991, so a pitcher who has not allowed a hit through six innings of a game called by rain does not receive a no-hitter. The subject is covered in what counts as a no-hitter or a perfect game.

For pitchers, a starter normally must complete five innings, with the lead intact, to earn a win, and the rulebook has special wording for shortened games. A rain-shortened game can therefore leave a winning team with no starter who qualifies, in which case the scorer credits the win to the most effective reliever. Fantasy players should know this: a game shortened by rain can cost a starter his win and cut the innings that count toward ERA and WHIP. For saves, a closer must finish the game under defined conditions, and a shortened game can erase the opportunity entirely. The fantasy implications are discussed in how to value closers and saves in fantasy baseball.

Even something as basic as the ball is affected by wet weather. Baseballs are rubbed before games with a special mud to remove the gloss, and umpires replace wet or scuffed balls often. The standards for the ball are described in the rules for bats, balls and gloves.

Doubleheaders, makeup dates and tickets

When a game is postponed, the league schedules a makeup, often as part of a doubleheader. A traditional doubleheader has both games on the same date for the price of one ticket, and a split doubleheader has separate admissions. In 2020 and 2021 the major leagues played doubleheaders of seven innings each, a pandemic-era change that ended afterward, and seven-inning doubleheaders remain a tool in some minor leagues.

Ticket policies for postponed and shortened games are set by each club, and refunds or exchanges vary. Check the club's website or the box office before assuming a ticket is good for a replacement date. For a traveler, rain can make a trip, and the decision to attend should include a forecast and an understanding of the exchange policy.

Rain matters to people who follow baseball as a numbers game as well. A shortened game affects scoring and totals, and the effect of the weather on a game is part of what a sportsbook prices. This article gives no betting advice.

Common questions

How long does a rain delay last before the game is called? There is no fixed answer. The umpire-in-chief decides, based on the forecast, the field condition and the schedule, and the umpires generally wait to see if the weather clears. In some cases a delay of several hours has been followed by a restart, and in others a game has been called in minutes.

Can a game end in a tie? Under current major-league rules, a tied game called by weather after it becomes official is generally suspended and finished later. Historically, ties occurred and were replayed in full.

Do suspended games count as two games? No. A suspended game is a single game that is played over two dates, and statistics from both parts are combined in that one game.

Why does the home team get to keep runs scored in an unfinished inning? Because the home team bats last. If it has taken the lead in its half-inning, it has done what the rules require, and the visitors should not benefit from the stoppage.

Do minor-league rules differ? They can. Leagues set their own details on curfews, doubleheader length and suspended-game resumption, so check the league's rules.

Where to go next

For the rules that shape each game, read the lineup card, substitutions and the double switch and counts, walks and strikeouts. For the code of conduct on the field, see the unwritten rules of baseball. Today's schedule and postponements are on the schedule page, and the rules and umpiring topic page is at rules and umpiring. The official rulebook and news are available from MLB at https://www.mlb.com/.