Mets game delayed 36 minutes after Red Sox team plane lands at LaGuardia just hours before first pitch
The video board at Citi Field on Friday announces the start of the game between the Mets and the Red Sox will be delayed due to Boston's plane issues. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Red Sox pitcher Payton Tolle said he and his teammates just sat back and laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation.
Reliever Garrett Whitlock agreed, noting that traditional routine was out the window on a day like this and that the Red Sox just had to laugh and roll with the punches.
And interim manager Chad Tracy, while recognizing the annoyance, said: “It is what it is.”
The Red Sox encountered nightmarish travel issues from Chicago — where they finished a series with the White Sox on Thursday afternoon — en route to Friday night’s series opener against the Mets at Citi Field. It ultimately caused a 36-minute delay in the game’s start time.
The Red Sox did not enter the visiting clubhouse until 5:05 p.m. Friday for a game scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m. MLB announced at 5:55 p.m. that first pitch had been delayed to 7:50 p.m. (it ultimately began at 7:51), giving the Red Sox less than three hours from when they walked into the clubhouse until Anthony Seigler stepped in the box to face Nolan McLean.
By the end of the night, it seemingly was all worth it for the Red Sox, who won, 6-2.
“Just a lot of delays,” Tracy said. “Obviously, it started — we had to wait [Thursday] because there was potential weather here, so we started with a little bit of a delay just to take off. We went to pull away, and there was a mechanical issue with a tow cart pulling us out. That turned into I think six-plus hours sitting there waiting to see if we can get another plane or what.
“And then we had to go back to multiple hotels to sleep, which we’re grateful for that, at least got some sleep. And then got back there today, and then something with one of the switches or light bulbs in the cockpit that was also an issue. So another three-something hours waiting around today before we finally took off and got here.”
The Mets (40-55) went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, wasting a golden opportunity in the eighth in a 4-1 game. A.J. Ewing and Juan Soto led off the inning with back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners, but Francisco Lindor, Carson Benge and Jorge Polanco all flied out.
“Baseball’s unpredictable,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said. “Honestly felt if we held them scoreless the first couple innings, they’d probably tire out pretty quickly. And if they scored a couple runs — I’ve been a part of a lot of really tough travel days before, and you just kind of run off the adrenaline and keep playing baseball. So we didn’t see that as an advantage or disadvantage. We just saw that as what it was. We had to wait a little longer to start a game, just like you would in a weather delay.”
Cionel Perez surrendered a two-run homer by Wilyer Abreu in the ninth to make it 6-1, and Brett Baty hit a two-out solo shot in the bottom half.
McLean (6-6) was steady in six innings, allowing two runs (in the first inning; neither one was earned), five hits and two walks. He struck out seven. “I guess it was tough,” he said of the delay. “I mean, it was probably a little tougher on Boston, so kudos to those guys for showing up and playing the way they did. I mean, me getting delayed 40 minutes or whatever it was isn’t going to make or break the outing.”
Said Baty: “That was crazy. I’ve never seen anything like that. Props to them for coming out and competing.”
According to the flight tracker for Delta flight 8879, the Red Sox’s reported flight that departed from Chicago’s Midway International Airport, the team landed at LaGuardia Airport — just a few miles away from Citi Field — at 4:35 p.m.
This wasn’t the Red Sox’s first travel snafu this year, either. After their series in Colorado ended on June 24, they reportedly didn’t land in Boston until 6 a.m. It didn’t seem to matter as they followed that with a four-game sweep of the Yankees.
Tolle, who is scheduled to start Sunday’s game, jokingly checked with a team spokesperson that nothing was off limits before sharing the travel details.
Tolle said they were told Thursday that the plane’s issue was that “the tug broke.” He said they initially arrived at the airport in the 6-6:30 p.m. range Thursday and returned to the hotel at about 12:30 a.m. Friday.
Tracy said the team had to stay at two different hotels, which were near each other, after the initial mechanical issue. Tolle said he went to bed at about 2 a.m. Friday and that his bus left the hotel at 10 a.m.
Though Friday’s mishap involved the cockpit, Tolle said it was the same plane as Thursday’s, just with a different issue.
Tolle said he ate five doughnuts on the plane, but the delay was long enough that they received some breakfast burritos.
“We tried to make light of the situation, so we tried to have fun with it,” he said. “But there was some frustration building.”
Tracy said the team “spitballed” with the idea of moving Friday’s starting pitcher, Sonny Gray, to Saturday but that it wasn’t feasible. He didn’t think Gray would have wanted that anyway. Gray (11-1) allowed one run in six innings.
Whitlock said that for a typical night game on the road, the team typically has a 1:30 p.m. or 2 p.m. bus that gets them to the park a half-hour later. He added, “It’s just going to be normal baseball today. Obviously, it is what it is, but just go out there and play ball.”
Red Sox centerfielder Ceddanne Rafaela said: “It was tough. Obviously, wanted to get [in early] yesterday, get some rest and be ready for today, but that didn’t happen. We went back to the hotel, got some rest and came in early, and we didn’t take off again. But yeah, we’re here and we’re ready as a team.”
Rafaela was named an All-Star on Friday as a replacement for the injured Aaron Judge. Tracy said he learned the news Friday morning and announced it to the team via the plane intercom system, which he said “actually gave a little bit of a lift to the previous 15 hours we had gone through.”
Green said he never had an experience like the one the Red Sox had, “even with a lot of years in minor-league baseball and Triple-A.”
“I think I had some times where maybe we arrived at 2 o’clock for a 7 o’clock game, but we’re well past 2 o’clock already, and they’re airborne,” he said. “Unfortunate set of circumstances.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
