The Red Sox are supposed to open their three-game weekend series with the New York Mets on Friday night at 7:15 p.m.
Thanks to numerous flight delays, the team likely won’t arrive at Citi Field until less than three hours before the scheduled first pitch.
A Red Sox source confirmed that the team plane is finally airborne after nearly a day’s worth of delays leaving Chicago. The team was originally scheduled to fly from Chicago to New York on Thursday night following the club’s series finale against the White Sox, but according to multiple reports the club’s flight was grounded due to plane issues, which stranded the Red Sox in Chicago into Friday afternoon.
Typically MLB teams arrive at the ballpark roughly five hours before first pitch for pregame meetings and activities. As of this writing it’s not clear if Friday’s game will start on time or if it will need to be pushed back.
This marks the second time in three weeks the Red Sox have faced significant travel disruptions. Following the club’s June 24 series finale in Denver the Red Sox’s flight home was forced to turn around and land due to a plane issue, and the team didn’t make it back to Boston until 5 a.m. the following morning.
Since that nightmare flight the Red Sox have seen their fortunes turn around, winning 11 of their last 13 games.