Is the Phillies-Mets Game Delayed Today? When Will it Start?

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Is the Phillies-Mets game delayed today? Get the latest on the weather delay, and when the game is expected to start.

Rain pushed the tarp onto the Citi Field infield Friday afternoon, sending the scheduled 4:10 p.m. ET start between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets into a weather delay.

In a terse social media post, the Mets simply stated, “The start of today’s game will be delayed,” with no further information forthcoming. That post appeared at 3:25 p.m. ET.

But at 4:35 p.m. ET, the Mets posted, “Today’s game is scheduled to start at 5:20 PM.” And in fact, that is exactly when the game started, with Christian Scott delivering the first pitch on time.

NJ.com reporter Max Goodman noted that the tarp started coming off the field at 4:37 p.m. “It never really rained hard here leading up to when first pitch was originally scheduled… Not sure why they didn’t just play through the light rain to this point,” Goodman wrote.

Indeed, the delay now appears to have been precautionary, and with no reports of worsening conditions, a 5:20 p.m. first pitch is realistic.

The delay compounds an already difficult stretch for the Mets, who entered Friday having dropped seven consecutive games, and fired their manager, Carlos Mendoza, on Friday.

New York Mets Rain Delay Status

The New York Mets confirmed the delay through their regional broadcast partner, SNY, with the network reporting the delay stemmed from impending weather conditions at the Flushing, Queens ballpark. No new first pitch time was issued in the initial announcement. Weather observers tracking conditions at Citi Field noted rain was expected to persist through approximately 7 p.m. ET, though no official forecast update was attached to the delay notice from the club or the broadcast.

Under standard MLB protocols, the home team controls the delay decision ahead of first pitch, with the umpires assuming authority once play begins. So it was the Mets who made the call. The grounds crew deployed the tarp. The situation was being monitored across SNY, team social channels, and league media for updates on when the game might get underway. No indication of a full postponement had emerged as of early Friday evening. This was being handled as a standard weather hold, with conditions expected to improve later in the evening hours.

Philadelphia entered the afternoon at 45-36 overall, second in the National League East, four games behind the Atlanta Braves and riding a four-game winning streak that included a three-game sweep of Washington earlier in the week.

New York sat at 34-47, last in the division by 15 games, with the seven-game losing run representing the longest active skid in the NL heading into Friday’s originally scheduled 4:10 p.m. start.

Pitching Matchup and Series Stakes

The scheduled starters are Philadelphia’s Alan Rangel against New York’s Christian Scott, the latter making his first appearance since coming off the injured list. Rangel, a right-hander with a 2.25 ERA in just eight innings of big-league work this season, has generated a 44 percent whiff rate on his changeup and limits hard contact at an elite clip, according to Yahoo Sports. Scott’s breaking and offspeed pitches rank in the bottom third of the majors, leaving him reliant on his fastball against a Philadelphia lineup that features two of baseball’s better fastball hitters in Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.

Philadelphia leads the 2026 season series 2-1 heading into Friday. Their most recent head-to-head meeting, a 6-2 Phillies victory on June 21 at Citizens Bank Park, was the third of 13 matchups scheduled between these NL East rivals. Friday represented the fourth installment, with the clubs set to meet again Saturday and Sunday before this Citi Field series concludes. The Phillies scored 21 runs across their last three games heading into the weekend, with the offense generating wins by margins of 10-5, 5-4, and 14-9 during the Washington sweep.