DETROIT _ Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus didn't get stuck in any of the flash floods on his drive from Birmingham, Mich., to Comerica Park on Thursday, but he said some of his players did.
"Took me about 50 minutes," Ausmus said. "Wasn't too bad. I went surface streets. A lot of flooding on the surface streets."
The outlook for Thursday's afternoon game against the Cleveland Indians isn't good. An Indians bus reportedly got caught in floodwater, forcing some players to hail cabs instead.
Ausmus and Indians manager Terry Francona examined the field with the umpires Thursday afternoon, before the grounds crew put the tarp back on the field. There's concern that the field may not be playable after the next storm cell passes over the ballpark after 3 p.m. local time. That could cause the game to be postponed until Monday.
"They're saying it could rain until 5 o'clock," Ausmus said. "I'd be surprised if they didn't wait. It's in the MLB's hands. We don't have any call whatsoever."
Ausmus said the umpires could say that the field is in such a bad shape that they don't want to risk someone getting injured.
"Ultimately, it's their call," Ausmus said. "I think umpires are very cognizant of not wanting to burn a team's or both teams' starting pitcher, because they know how important that is."
The Tigers went on to beat the Indians, 6-3, on Wednesday, in a game that was rained out after five innings.
Ausmus, like many in metro Detroit, got woken up Thursday by a flash-flood warning on his cellphone.
"7:40, it woke me up," Ausmus said. "My wife's phone went off. Mine went off, exact same time. We both jumped out of bed."
When he was asked about today being the final regular-season game at Comerica Park, Ausmus said: "Unless we get rained out and have to come back and play Cleveland on Monday.
"It's been a roller coaster, but we're still here."
