Why is the Diamondbacks-Guardians Game Delayed Today? When Will it Start Again?

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Cleveland Guardians will face more than just each other Sunday at Progressive Field. Thunderstorms bearing down on Cleveland create the day’s highest delay risk, with precipitation chances climbing from 56 percent at the 1:40 p.m. ET first pitch to over 80 percent by late afternoon.

At 3:18 p.m. grounds crews brought the tarp on the field. But even the tarp rollout was delayed by an altercation among players on the field. Guardians players appears upset that Arizona’s Tim Tawa attempted a bunt to break up a perfect game by Cleveland starter Gavin Williams.

Tara subsequently broke up Williams’ bid at history with a single.

Minutes after bringing the tarp onto the field, the grounds crew rolled the tarp off as rain stopped. But the infield remained drenched. How long it would take the crew to dry the dirt, as well as the outfield, was not clear as of 3:25 p.m.

The Guardians had made no official announcement of a restart time or even, for that matter the delay by 3:35 p.m., about 17 minutes after the tarp came on to the field.

“Here’s the issue. They let it pour and now the infield is a mess,” wrote Bryan Shaw of the podcast MLB Guardcast. “Its going to take a bunch of extra time to clean it up, just for it to rain again.”

The National Weather Service forecasts increasingly broad storm coverage rather than isolated cells. These aren’t scattered thunderstorms popping up and fading. They’re a system thickening over the Great Lakes region with heavy rain and lightning risks that could force postponement if the weather persists past mid-evening.

What the Weather Looks Like in Cleveland

Early conditions favor a dry start. Mostly cloudy through mid-morning, then the radar picture darkens. Highs near 78 degrees don’t bring relief—the variable winds at 6 mph mean storms won’t punch through quickly once they move over Progressive Field. Forecast confidence runs high, meaning this isn’t a worst-case scenario model run; meteorologists tracking the system expect thickening coverage throughout the afternoon.

What constitutes a postponement versus a delay? Once lineups are exchanged and the umpires take control, delays are temporary pauses. The game stops, the field dries, play resumes the same day. A postponement means the game won’t be played at all—it gets rescheduled, often as part of a doubleheader or on a mutual off-day later in the season.

If fewer than five innings have been completed, the postponed game restarts from the beginning. If regulation play has been reached, it could be called final under certain circumstances or suspended and resumed at a later date. Tickets generally remain valid for the new date, though policies on refunds and exchanges vary by club.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo publicly outlined expectations for roughly a one-hour delay, with rain anticipated until about 2:30 p.m. local time. But weather systems don’t always cooperate. A stall, a secondary pulse of heavier rain, or a slower-than-expected system track stretches that number to 90 minutes, two hours, or longer. At that point, postponement enters the conversation.

The Pitching Staff Problem

Merrill Kelly gets the ball for Arizona at 8-8 with a 4.86 ERA. Gavin Williams answers for Cleveland at 10-6 with a 3.71 ERA. Neither profile screams “dominator,” but both starters carry September implications—rest becomes currency in the stretch run.

A lengthy delay scrambles things. Kelly or Williams warming in the bullpen early, then cooling off during a rain pause, creates injury risk if either tries to return post-delay. Most managers handle this by benching the starter and committing to the bullpen if the interruption stretches past 45 minutes. Win or lose, you’ve used multiple relievers for a game that started hours earlier than scheduled.

A postponement resets the rotation entirely—nothing gets pushed back like the ability to skip a turn and regroup. Both clubs carry tightly managed bullpen workloads heading into August’s final weeks. Forced makeup games compress schedules, eat off-days, and complicate roster planning when every win matters. The Diamondbacks, riding a 14-5 streak since July 9 and hunting a wild-card spot while trailing the National League West by 10 games, cannot afford scheduling chaos. The Guardians, hovering at .500 and clinging to postseason hopes after recent struggles, face the same pressure.

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