Mother Nature really, really does not want to see the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles play this week, apparently. Slated to play a four-game set at Fenway Park starting on Thursday, the two teams have instead played just once so far, with a day-night doubleheader planned for Saturday.
But now even that is in jeopardy, as Game 1 of said doubleheader has already been put into a rain delay thanks to inclement weather.
Zach Eflin was set to go for Baltimore, while Boston is slated to send Hunter Dobbins to the mound. But when will either of them get the chance? Let's take a look at what the forecast might hold.
UPDATE: Boston has announced that Game 1 is set to get underway at 1:30 p.m. ET.
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Red Sox vs. Orioles rain delay: What's Saturday's forecast in Boston?
Luckily, this seems to be just an issue of timing. The National Weather Service gives just a 30% chance of rain on Saturday afternoon, but that chance is located largely in the 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. time window — a problem for a scheduled 1:05 p.m. ET start. From the look of the radar, this seems more like a scattered showers situation than an ongoing downpour.
Things are expected to clear up by the evening, so the teams should be able to get at least one game in today. Whether they'll be able to fit two, or when Game 1 might actually start, remains up in the air for now.
What time do the Red Sox and Orioles play today?
First pitch of the matinee was set for 1:05 p.m. ET, though obviously that's no longer in the cards. The Red Sox have yet to issue an updated start time, as they wait to see which way the radar readings might move over the next hour or so.
These two division rivals will play again in Boston in mid-August, but neither side wants to have to tack on yet another doubleheader to what's already been a chaotic week. Hopefully they'll be able to fit in both games today and play the series finale as scheduled tomorrow afternoon, but if not, we could see a Sunday doubleheader with the fourth game of this set pushed back to later in the summer.
Baltimore is reeling after an ugly 19-5 loss to Boston on Friday in what was supposed to be the first game of a doubleheader, the O's ninth loss in their last 10 games as their nightmare start shows no sign of getting better any time soon. The Red Sox, meanwhile, continue to bob around the .500 mark, and a potential IL stint for Alex Bregman due to a quad injury could throw things into chaos.