The Texas Rangers are in a dogfight at the top of the AL West, entering play on Sunday dead even with the Houston Astros for the division lead with just two games remaining. But Mother Nature is doing her best to throw a wrench into the team's playoff push, as Saturday's matinee against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field will begin in a rain delay.
Texas loses the head-to-head tiebreaker to Houston, so winning out is absolutely crucial. A delayed start and inclement weather certainly doesn't help that mission, but how long might we be waiting to play baseball in Minneapolis — and how much might the game be impacted by all the precipitation? We've got you covered with live updates from Target Field.
When will the Rangers-Twins game start on Saturday?
UPDATE: The Twins have announced that Saturday's game will begin at 5:10 p.m. CT/6:10 p.m. ET.
A little less than an hour before the scheduled first pitch time of 3:10 p.m. CT/4:10 p.m. ET, the team announced that Saturday's start would be delayed.
We will be starting today's game in an @uponor rain delay. We will provide updates as they become available. pic.twitter.com/7bHC4U7u1m
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) September 26, 2026
This has nothing to do with the nor'easter currently wreaking havoc up and down the East Coast. But there's plenty of rain in the forecast in the Twin Cities as well. With just two days left in the regular season, obviously avoiding any sort of postponement is paramount. But the weather might not make that easy.
Target Field forecast: How much more rain is expected?
The good news is that the current patch of rain moving through Minneapolis right now shouldn't last all that long. The bad news is that's far from the only precipitation in the forecast into Saturday evening.
Hour (CT) | Chance of precipitation |
|---|---|
3 p.m. | 77% |
4 p.m. | 49% |
5 p.m. | 81% |
6 p.m. | 81% |
7 p.m. | 81% |
You can see in the table above, and in the Accuweather radar as well, that there will be small window in which the rain lets up in about an hour or so. But that doesn't mean we'll be able to start this game; neither team wants to run their starting pitcher out there just to make him sit back down again for another delay, and there's plenty more rain in the forecast this evening.
The forecast is much better on Sunday, meaning that, if worst comes to worst, the teams could decide to simply play a doubleheader tomorrow to close the season. Is that ideal for a Texas team hoping to be starting a playoff series on Tuesday? Of course not. But at a certain point, they're going to have to make a decision about Saturday's game, and if this rain keeps up, it might be the best available option.
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