Why is the Red Sox-Pirates Game Delayed Today? When Will it Start Again?

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Why is the Red Sox-Pirates game delayed today? Here’s the reason for the delay and the latest update on when the game will start.

Rain halted Sunday’s Boston Red Sox-Pittsburgh Pirates game at PNC Park, freezing the game before the top of the seventh inning with the Pirates leading 7-3, scoring all seven runs off Boston starter Patrick Sandoval. Lake Bachar was the openerin a bullpen game as Paul Skenes had his start pushed back until Wednesday, for the Pirates.

The Pirates announced the delay at about 3:35 p.m. ET, stating, “The tarp is going on and we’re in a delay. We will keep you updated.” No immediate time to resume the game was announced. Matthew Gross, a Red Sox reporter for Over The Monster, wrote that the delay would be “significant.”

By 4:40 p.m., an hour and five minutes into the delay, no new updates were issued about a possible time to start the game again, making a cancellation of the final three innings appear more likely. If that happened, because the game was already official, the Pirates would win, handing the Red Sox their seventh loss in their last nine, on the immediate heels of a nine-game winning streak.

AccuWeather showed thunderstorms continuing through about 7 p.m. with a severe thunderstorm watch in effect through 8 p.m., adding to the chances that game would simply be halted with a Pirates rain-shortened victory.

Right-handed reliever Isaac Mattson was jogging in from the bullpen to start the seventh for the Pirates when the umpires called for the tarp.

“We’re delayed by incoming severe weather conditions here on the North Shore,” wrote José Negron of DK Pittsburgh Sports. Rain had not yet started to fall at PNC Park when the tarp came on to the field. A tornado could also hit the area, according to PA Weather Plus.

“The severe weather threat continues this afternoon across western Pennsylvania, with an organized line of thunderstorms expected to move progressively east through the region,” PA Weather Plus wrote. “A brief tornado is possible within the line, especially with embedded bowing segments. However, the primary threat remains damaging wind gusts.”

The National Weather Service had a sever thunderstorm warning in effect until 3:45 p.m. but other models were less optimistic.

“A NASTY line of severe thunderstorms is tearing through the Pittsburgh metro area RIGHT NOW!” wrote storm chaser Orlando Cruz on social media at about 3:45 p.m. “This system is ORGANIZED and MEAN — radar showing a solid squall line stretching from northwest of Meridian down to Bethel Park. Warning valid until 4:30 PM EDT.”

Sandoval’s Start and the PNC Park Forecast

The delay could put new pressure on a Boston pitching staff already stretched by injuries to relievers Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten, as a flood watch was called for western Pennsylvania into Monday morning.

Raymond Burgos, just recalled from Triple-A earlier in the day, had pitched two scoreless innings for Boston in relief of Sandoval. After Bachar threw three shutout innings for Pittsburgh, Hunter Barco came on and gave up a three-run homer to Red Sox catcher Connor Wong in the fifth inning.

Sandoval, working on a 1-1 record and a 3.30 ERA over 30 innings since returning after almost two seasons lost to elbow surgery, was set to face Pittsburgh right-hander Bachar in the deciding contest of the three-game set. The National Weather Service pegged Sunday’s rain chances at 80% through the afternoon, with highs near 82 degrees, humid air and west winds up to 11 mph feeding a line of storms rolling through the Ohio Valley.

A flood watch remains active for Allegheny County through 8 a.m. Monday, and the National Weather Service forecast calls for the wet pattern to persist into the evening before clearing gradually overnight. Forecasters warned of isolated downpours capable of dumping well over an inch of rain on top of already saturated ground around PNC Park.

Play resumes once the tarp comes off and umpires clear the field, with the game picking up from the point of interruption rather than restarting from scratch — if it starts at all. A full postponement, if the storms don’t relent, would push the finale to a mutually available date — a shared off-day, according to MLB’s official rainout ticket policy. Tickets for Sunday’s game are typically honored for whatever date replaces it. Because the Red Sox-Pirates series is an interleague matchup, the two teams do not meet again this year.

Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates Weigh Pitching Fallout

Boston enters the delay already thin on arms. Garrett Crochet, Whitlock and Slaten are all on the injured list as of Sunday, according to StatMuse’s injury report for Sunday’s matchup, leaving Sandoval’s turn in the rotation with little margin for a scrapped outing. Masataka Yoshida was also placed on the IL with a hamstring issue, thinning the Red Sox lineup that has leaned on Wilyer Abreu, Willson Contreras and Ceddanne Rafaela to carry the offense.

The Red Sox sit third in the American League East at 66-57, 8 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay and two behind a Yankees club chasing the top American League Wild-Card spot. A scrubbed start or a bullpen game would tax relievers Boston can’t easily spare with the stretch drive approaching and the division mostly out of reach.

Pittsburgh has less on the line. The Pirates sit fifth in the National League Central at 60-65, 6 1/2 games out of the last NL Wild Card slot, and Sunday’s delay mostly affects internal evaluation for a staff auditioning arms like Bachar, who carries a 3.97 ERA into the abbreviated look. A rainout would simply give Pittsburgh’s bullpen extra rest before the next series. Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly has used the second half to get extended looks at younger arms, and a truncated Sunday outing wouldn’t change that broader development plan.

After an 8-4 Pittsburgh victory on Friday, Saturday’s game went to Boston, 4-0, an outing that saw Boston starter Sonny Gray grab a career-high 15th win. Sunday’s delay leaves that momentum in limbo, with both clubs and PNC Park’s grounds crew watching the same radar for a break in weather that shows little sign of easing before nightfall.

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