Red Sox-Pirates restart time: Rain delay updates from PNC Park, Aug. 16

The Pittsburgh Pirates put an early hurting on Patrick Sandoval and the Boston Red Sox on Sunday in the rubber match of the three-game series, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in a game that seemingly got out of hand. A three-run Connor Wong home run, however, gave Boston some life heading into the final innings of the game. But those final innings would ultimately have to wait as an anticipated storm finally made its way over PNC Park in Pittsburgh and forced the game into a rain delay.

With a severe thunderstorm warning in effect for Pittsburgh and even some tornado activity in the surrounding areas, the rain delay was the right call. However, both Red Sox and Pirates fans were left wondering when the game would restart and finish on Sunday afternoon, whether that'd mean Pittsburgh finishing off the win or Boston orchestrating some sort of comeback.

Red Sox-Pirates rain delay: When will the game restart?

As of right now, we're forecasting a 6 p.m. ET restart time for the Red Sox and Pirates after the rain delay based on the latest weather forecasts around PNC Park and how the system is expected to move through Pittsburgh. This is an updated projected restart time as the storms have lingered a bit longer around the ballpark than expected.

That forecasted restart time takes into account the storm system moving through the area, and a little bit of times for players to get warmed up, the tarps to get off the field, and for the grounds crew to get the field ready for play. While the game should've initially been wrapped up before 5:30 p.m. ET before the rain delay, that should still give the teams plenty of time to play the final three innings of action and then get ready for their respective series that start on Monday.

Pittsburgh weather forecast at PNC Park

With the weather forecast around PNC Park, the 6 p.m. ET start time is, admittedly, a bit conservative. However, given the severity of the storms in the area, you'd rather play it that way if you're MLB and the Pirates to both protect the fans and players out there.

There are heavy rains and storms that are forecasted in Pittsburgh until about 4 p.m. ET, but a steady rain — somewhere in the moderate to light variety in terms of severity — is expected to continue until a little after 5 p.m. ET. With the heavy rainfall expected, I don't foresee the grounds crew at PNC Park being overly aggressive in trying to get the field ready when there is still precipitation falling.

The good news for the Red Sox, Pirates, fans and everyone involved, however, is the fact that there is a clear window with no rain in the forecast for at least until 6:30 p.m. ET when there is a small chance of light rain. There are more storms in the forecast this evening around 8 p.m. ET, but there should be a clear enough window to finish out the final three innings of this game, get the results in the book, and move on to next week.

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