KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Friday night's game between the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians was delayed 30 minutes after a pipe burst near Kauffman Stadium's iconic outfield fountains, causing flooding on the right field warning track.
Water began leaking onto the field in the top of the fourth inning. Relievers in the Royals bullpen yelled to alert stadium officials to the problem, triggering the stoppage.
As maintenance personnel worked to stop the flow of water, more than a dozen grounds crew members armed with squeegees wicked water from the warning track as it poured from under the fence. They created a sandbag barrier to keep standing water from reaching the outfield grass.
"I thought I was back in the minor leagues," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "Nobody knew what was going on."
The Royals led 3-2 at the time of the delay thanks to All-Star catcher Salvador Perez's 454-foot, opposite-field home run in the first inning, a drive that landed in the fountains.
Perez promised a wheelchair-bound fan, Colin Couch, that he would hit a home run after meeting him on the field before the game, according to the team's Twitter page and broadcaster Steve Physioc.
Perez, a six-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove Award winner, who is going by the name "El Nino" on the back of his jersey for players' weekend -- delivered in his first at-bat.
"We were talking and I said, 'I'll hit a homer for you today, OK?'" Perez said. "He was so happy and all that. After I hit a homer I was looking, he was close to my family in the family [seating], so he was excited."
The Royals went on to win 5-4.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.