WATCH: Referee kicks ground team off the pitch in Yankees’ game against Orioles

Wednesday night’s game between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles presented an odd scene early in the ninth.

As the Yankees attempted a rally to overcome a 3-2 deficit, third baseman Tim Timmons made the unusual decision to send the Camden Yards ground team off the field. The ground crew had gathered on and around the tarp, waiting for a potential storm to pass through the area. Still, Timmons didn’t want it and motioned for the group to leave the field before play could continue.

Here’s a look at the unusual turn of events:

No explanation was provided after the game, but our best guess is that Timmons felt that the team’s presence on the ground was inconvenient for the players, who might fear that a late rain could interrupt the late gasps. of a close match. He does not have.

Instead, the Yankees completed their comeback, scoring a pair of runs on a Brett Gardner single to get set up by a 4-3 margin. Closer Aroldis Chapman then recorded his 27th save of the season with a perfect ninth. (You can check out the full box score and play log here.) For those wondering, the ground team made put the tarp over the infield after the game is over, as documented by Lindsey Adler of The Athletic:

The Yankees came into the evening with an 81-64 record, which puts them in a three-way tie with the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays for the two American League wild card spots. Each of those teams won on Wednesday, which means they will enter the same situation on Thursday.

The Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays by a 6-3 margin behind a 13-strikeout performance from Robbie Ray and a night of five RBIs from Bo Bichette; Meanwhile, the Red Sox knocked out the Seattle Mariners in extra innings, scoring six runs in the 10th inning to win by a 9-4 final.