The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds had been prepared to begin their engines Saturday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.
Then Mom Nature waved the crimson flag not as soon as however twice earlier than play was finally suspended.
Commercial
The MLB Speedway Classic started with a 2 1/2 hour rain delay, adopted by lower than a full inning of baseball, adopted by one other delay that resulted in a suspension of play till Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on the similar venue.
Cincinnati will take a 1-0 lead into the subsequent day. The Reds scored off an Austin Hays single to left, their third hit of the body.
First pitch lastly arrived at 9:40 p.m. ET.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
Due to the prolonged delay, Braves beginning pitcher Spencer Strider was scratched from the beginning. Strider, who grew up in Tennessee, went by means of warmups previous to the delay.
Commercial
Left-handed reliever Austin Cox, who had beforehand began solely three video games in his temporary MLB profession, acquired the nod for the Braves as an alternative. They had been planning to lean on their bullpen Saturday evening.
The Reds, however, did not scratch their starter. They nonetheless rolled with Chase Burns, a 22-year-old who grew up in Tennessee as nicely and performed faculty baseball for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Burns produced a 1-2-3 inning to begin the sport.
Main as much as the unique 7:15 p.m. ET begin time, pregame festivities included performances from Pitbull and Tim McGraw, U.S. Navy Musician First Class Kathryn Dobyns singing the nationwide anthem, NASCAR pit crews serving to introduce the beginning lineups by servicing Braves- and Reds-themed inventory automobiles and a flyover by 4 U.S. Navy F/A-18 Tremendous Hornets from Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Seaside.
Commercial
However the rain began coming down. It was pouring when Braves icon Chipper Jones and Reds legend Johnny Bench participated within the ceremonial first pitches.
Jones, an eight-time All-Star and one-time World Sequence champion with the Braves, threw to NASCAR driver Chase Elliott.
Fellow NASCAR driver Kyle Busch — a two-time NASCAR Cup Sequence champion — walked out to Bench, a 14-time All-Star and two-time World Sequence champion with the Reds, and traded spots, permitting the 77-year-old Bench to man his previous place as catcher.
Because the rain continued to hit the transformed diamond within the coronary heart of the race observe, the tarp got here out.
Nonetheless, a superb variety of followers initially anticipated to interrupt MLB’s all-time regular-season, single-game attendance file Saturday stayed put.
Commercial
Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci collected interviews for Fox Sports activities in the course of the delay, showcasing how gamers and coaches for each groups nonetheless shared that enthusiasm.
The grounds crew began eradicating the tarp round 8:50 p.m. ET.
After the sector was drained, the sport lastly began. Nevertheless it wasn’t lengthy earlier than the rain picked up once more and the tarp returned.
“We’ll be again tomorrow, 1 o’clock resume,” said Michael Hill, MLB senior vice chairman of on-field operations. “We’re optimistic for a greater climate forecast tomorrow.”
