Schneider: Blue Jays' rainout loss was handled 'poorly'

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider isn't pleased with how umpires handled Thursday's rain-shortened loss to the Kansas City Royals.

The Royals won 2-1 after the teams played in rainy conditions through five innings before the game was eventually called following a delay that lasted over 3.5 hours at Kauffman Stadium.

Schneider said he was told the field was "too loose" to play on after the delay and couldn't absorb any more water, according to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. However, the skipper disagreed and said the situation was handled "kind of poorly."

"In my opinion, the field was significantly better than it was in the third, fourth, and fifth inning," Schneider said.

The 44-year-old also acknowledged the conditions were already unplayable before the delay.

"I disagreed with the fact that it's looser now than it was in the fifth inning when Bo (Bichette) fielded a ball through a lake and threw it over to first," he said, according to Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.

Crew chief Chris Guccione said postgame the decision to call the contest was made with the health of players in mind.

"In this situation, the whole shortstop area and third-base area was so spongy and soft. I couldn't imagine Bo Bichette or Bobby Witt Jr. trying to field a ball to their left or right, planting and trying to make a successful throw," Guccione said, according to Matheson."That's not good for the game, and for sure, the safety of the players is the No. 1 priority. We want to protect those guys."

Schneider said that suffering a defeat in this fashion was a "(crappy) way to lose a game," per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.

The umpires consulted with MLB before deciding to end the contest, per Dan Shulman of Sportsnet. A game can be made official when it has reached the middle of the fifth inning.