[Soundy]

X Factor USA: Baseball Rain Delay Cuts Show In Half; Top 16 Episode to Air Tuesday to Rival 'The Voice' : Celebrities : Enstarz

Mother Nature has thrown Simon Cowell and "The X Factor USA" fans a major curve ball.

On Wednesday, Oct. 17, Fox abruptly yanked "The X Factor's" Top 16 mid-episode and switched to game three of the National League Championship Series because a rain delay caused the game to run longer than scheduled.

The extended game time cut into the two hours scheduled for "The X Factor." This caused the network to cut the show earlier than planned on the East Coast. On the West Coast, Fox aired a repeat of last Thursday's episode instead of repeating the mistake they made on the East - airing only half of this week's episode. The move even shocked the show's creator, Simon Cowell.

"Have no idea what is happening to the schedule tonight," Cowell tweeted. "Have heard the whole episode will be shown next Tuesday. Sorry. It what's known as a total f up," Cowell added.

Fox issued a statement on the scheduling fiasco:
"Due to tonight's rain delay of Game #3 of the National League Championship Series, the highly anticipated conclusion of the "Judges' Homes" round of 'The X Factor' will air in its entirety on Tuesday, Oct. 23 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.