Generator failure knocks Fox World Series broadcast off-air

A "rare electronics failure" knocked Fox Sports' broadcast of Game 1 of the World Series between the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals off the air for two innings Tuesday night.

The outage occurred as the network was coming back from a commercial break for the start of the bottom of the fourth inning with the game tied at 1. Viewers in the U.S. missed the first batter of the inning while the broadcast cut to the Fox network center in Los Angeles, where Fox Sports 1 host Dan O'Toole was joined by ex-big leaguers Eric Karros and Dontrelle Willis.

In a statement late Tuesday, Fox Sports said the glitch caused "both the primary and backup generators inside the FOX Sports production compound to lose power. The issue was immediately addressed, although it resulted in the audience missing one at-bat during the time needed to switch to carriage of Major League Baseball's international feed, powered by a different generator on site."

The outage also caused a seven-minute delay during the game due to the loss of the video feed needed for possible replay challenges. Umpires spoke with managers of both teams and also put on headsets, presumably to speak with Major League Baseball's replay center in New York.

MLB International broadcasters Matt Vasgersian and John Smoltz called the remainder of the bottom of the fourth and the top of the fifth inning, during which Curtis Granderson's solo home run gave the Mets a 2-1 lead. The Fox Sports announcing crew of Joe Buck, Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci called the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth inning on the international feed.

The Fox Sports broadcast resumed in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Mets on top, 3-1.

"We apologize for the interruption in tonight's coverage," Fox's statement concluded, "and are working to ensure that the remainder of the World Series is broadcast without incident."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.