LEWISTON – If it’s October and the World Series is under way, you can almost always count on one thing: A problem with a television feed.

On Wednesday, baseball fans across the region attempting to tune into game one of the showdown were alerted that DirecTV access to Fox was down. It happened in sports bars and in private homes.

“All of my customers are grumpy and upset,” said a bartender at Fast Breaks on Lisbon Street, just before the first pitch. “They’re throwing their hands in the air. We’re not happy.”

Tempers were flaring at game time, but the situation improved. By the time the Red Sox came up in the bottom of the first inning, the game was back on.

Just in time, as it turned out. Three minutes after the game flickered back on, Dustin Pedroia hit a homer to put the Red Sox up 1-0.

It was unknown what caused the problem, which affected DirecTV customers in the early evening hours. The message on the television screen advised: “No need to call us. We are aware that this TV station is temporarily unavailable.”

“Isn’t that convenient?” asked Ray Labbe of Lewiston, who was getting ready to tune into the game when he learned Fox was not available. “Good thing I have regular cable, too. I can just turn that on.”

Customers at Gipper’s in Auburn and the Blue Goose in Lewiston were similarly blessed. Both are DirecTV customers, but also had access to another cable feed to get the game.

Customers at those businesses did not miss out on the top half of the first inning, which featured Sox pitcher Josh Beckett mowing through the Colorado Rockies’ first three batters by tossing three strikeouts in a row. They were able to watch the bottom half of the inning and all that followed.

In recent years, baseball fans have missed portions of the World Series due to problems with feeds at other cable companies.

Customer service representatives at DirecTV could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

It was not clear how many customers were affected.