Why is the Mariners-Rays Game Delayed Today? When Will it Start?

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Why is the Mariners-Rays game delayed today? Get the latest delay updates, first pitch status, and when the game is expected to start.

First pitch between the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays is running late Saturday, pushed back by Evan Longoria’s Hall of Fame ceremony.

The delay pushes back an afternoon start at Tropicana Field, leaving fans wondering exactly when the Mariners and Rays will actually get underway. The answer came at 4:35, when Griffin Jax delivered the first pitch for the Rays.

Evan Longoria’s Tampa Bay Rays Hall of Fame Induction

GettyA ceremony honoring Evan Longoria delayed the start of Saturday’s game.

The Rays scheduled Saturday’s game for 4:10 p.m. ET, ahead of the Hall of Fame induction for Longoria, the third baseman the franchise still calls its greatest player. That ceremony, began at 4 p.m. Saturday, according to MLB.com’s Adam Berry, running past the scheduled first pitch and pushing the actual start of the game back with it.

Seattle Mariners beat writer Ryan Divish confirmed a roughly 20-minute delay to first pitch, putting the actual start closer to 4:30 p.m. ET, according to Divish of the Seattle Times. The Rays built the whole weekend around Longoria, calling it “Longo’s Legacy Weekend,” and the induction is only half of it. His No. 3 gets retired Sunday, the day after.

Tampa Bay swapped its usual City Connect look for home white uniforms Saturday specifically to mark the occasion, a small wardrobe change that signals how much the franchise wanted this day to stand apart from a routine July game. A statue outside Gate 4 already commemorates Longoria’s most famous swing, and by Saturday night he’ll have a Hall of Fame plaque to go with it.

Longoria earned this kind of send-off. Tampa Bay took him third overall in the 2006 draft, and by 2008 he was the American League Rookie of the Year, helping steer the Rays to their first World Series appearance. He hit 261 home runs during his decade in Tampa Bay, still the franchise record by a wide margin, to go with three All-Star selections, three Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger.

“Evan Longoria’s contributions on and off the field were transformative for the Tampa Bay Rays franchise,” Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said in a statement. “He delivered countless memorable moments for our fans and set a standard for professionalism that has impacted countless players in our organization.”

Tampa Bay Rays Set Jersey Retirement for Longoria Sunday

Sunday brings the actual jersey retirement, with Longoria’s No. 3 joining Wade Boggs and Don Zimmer as the only numbers the Rays have retired for a player who wore the uniform. The band Tantric, which provided Longoria’s entrance music for a decade, is scheduled to play his old walk-up song live both days of the celebration.

None of that changes what’s happening on the field Saturday. Seattle enters the weekend at .500 and fighting for position in a crowded American League West, while Tampa Bay sits atop the AL East. Logan Gilbert takes the mound for the Mariners against Griffin Jax, once the ceremony finally clears the field.

Tampa Bay carries a 33-14 record at Tropicana Field into the weekend, turning the dome into one of the tougher road environments in the American League. Seattle, by contrast, has dropped three of its last five, arriving in St. Petersburg looking to salvage the series.

Fans who show up early get more than a delay to sit through. The Rays are giving away Longoria snapback hats to the first 10,000 through the gates, part of a weekend that also includes throwback merchandise, a barbershop pop-up honoring Longoria’s old haircuts and a bracket challenge letting fans vote on his best moment in a Rays uniform.