Guardians-Tigers start time: Rain delay updates from Detroit, May 18

The Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers were set to kick off a four-game set with massive AL Central implications on Monday evening. But as anyone who's ever spent time in the Midwest can tell you, the forecast can turn on a dime once the weather warms up — and sure enough, Mother Nature has seen fit to wreak havoc on Comerica Park ahead of the series opener.

The rain has already begun, and with no end in sight any time soon, the Tigers were forced to delay the start of Monday's game. That, of course, is going to beg the age-old rain delay question of when play will actually begin. That's where we can (hopefully) help.

Guardians-Tigers start time: When will the game begin in Detroit?

UPDATE: The storm system has passed and we have a restart time! Monday's game is set to get underway at approximately 7:20 p.m. ET.

At exactly 5:40 p.m. ET — one hour on the dot ahead of the scheduled first-pitch time, what a coincidence — the Tigers announced on social media that Monday's game would be delayed, although the team declined to offer any concrete start time. If you live in the Detroit area, you likely just had to look out your window to see why, as a major storm system had already begun moving through the city.

The good news is that we're only talking about one storm system here, which should pass by at some point this evening. But we could be in for a pretty wet time before we get any baseball, and if Accuweather radar is to be believed, we likely won't be in the clear until after 7 p.m. ET. From there, it depends on whether there's lightning in the surrounding area, but it seems like the two teams should be playing by 7:30-8 p.m. ET at the latest.

Comerica Park forecast: How much more rain is expected?

This is an instance where the local forecast is a bit misleading.

You might look at those numbers and think that we might be in danger of a rainout. But remember, that's just the percentage of the Detroit area that will be getting rain; the storm system should pass over Comerica Park by 7 p.m. ET or so, at which point we should be able to start the game.

Of course, a divisional game makes rescheduling a bit easier, so there's always a chance that we could turn this into a doubleheader on Tuesday if things drag on too long. But neither team wants that considering the toll it'll take on their pitching staffs, and the weather should cooperate well enough.

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