Braves-Reds at Bristol Motor Speedway suspended due to rain - ESPN

BRISTOL, Tenn. — It was a red flag for Major League Baseball at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

The Speedway Classic between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds was suspended in the first inning because of rain, soaking a record-breaking crowd for the first regular-season game in Tennessee. The plan is to resume the game on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

The first delay at the historic bullring of a racetrack came after the ceremonial first pitch featuring a pair of Hall of Famers in Johnny Bench and Chipper Jones, joined by NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott. The second with one out in the bottom of the first led to the game being pushed back a day, much like a red flag in motorsports.

Fans who stuck out the first delay of 2 hours, 17 minutes started heading toward the exits before the game was postponed with the Reds holding a 1-0 lead.

It was an unwelcome detour for the long-planned event mixing baseball and NASCAR.

«We're going to suspend tonight's game.… We are optimistic for a better weather forecast for tomorrow,» Michael Hill, MLB's senior vice president of on-field operations, told Fox.

The rain made life difficult on the players before the suspension. A bat flew out of TJ Friedl's hands as he led off for the Reds. A pitcher seemed to catch his footing going to cover first base.

The MLB Speedway Classic was first announced nearly a year ago as part of commissioner Rob Manfred's push to take MLB to places where baseball isn't played every day live. MLB played a game at the «Field of Dreams» movie site in Iowa in 2021 and 2022. Alabama and North Carolina, too.

Reds pitcher Andrew Abbott showed up Saturday afternoon at Bristol wearing a cutoff version of a NASCAR race suit. Born in Lynchburg, Virginia,