Chicago Baseball Delayed
Severe Weather Delays Crucial White Sox-Braves Game in Chicago Amid Tornado Watch
The Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox game at Guaranteed Rate Field was officially postponed late Thursday night, with Major League Baseball announcing the reschedule at 12:53 a.m. after thunderstorms and tornadic cells battered the Chicago metro area, according to Associated Press. The game will now be played on August 20, 2026, at 1:10 p.m. CT — a date that had been a mutual off day for both teams.
The storms were no minor rain delay. Wind gusts hit 70–80 mph, hail reached 2 inches in diameter, and confirmed tornadoes touched down in Streator and Reading, Illinois, according to The Watchers. Nearly 200,000 Chicagoland residents lost power, with 75,000 ComEd customers still in the dark by Thursday morning, WTTW reported.
Storm Sirens Sound Hours Before First Pitch
The National Weather Service placed the entire Chicago metro area under a Tornado Watch at 1:55 p.m., effective until 9:00 p.m. The White Sox announced a game delay at 6:00 p.m. — just 40 minutes before the scheduled 6:40 p.m. first pitch at Guaranteed Rate Field, FanSided reported. But the storms kept coming, and by midnight the tarp was still on the field.
Some fans and analysts questioned why the team didn't act sooner. The NWS had issued a Level 4-of-5 tornado threat advisory as early as 3:34 a.m. Wednesday. Analyst Noah Phalen asked why the White Sox weren't more proactive in moving the game to an afternoon start, given that warning, according to FanSided.
White Sox Hold Slim Division Lead at Stake
The postponement hit at a delicate moment. The White Sox sit at 36–31, holding a half-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central — the latest point in the season they have led the division in five years, according to Associated Press. Manager Will Venable said before the delay, "It's meaningful to be ahead... but we understand we have a long way to go," per Sox Machine.
The team has gone 10–5 in its last 15 games — a massive turnaround from a 23–44 record at this same point in 2025. Pitcher Davis Martin leads all of MLB with a 9–2 record. The postponement now disrupts his rotation heading into a high-stakes series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Post noted.
Tornado Outbreak Causes Real Damage Across South Side
The storm's impact went well beyond baseball. CBS Chicago meteorologists tracked what they called an "apparent tornado outbreak" that spawned multiple confirmed funnels in Chicago's exurbs. The Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation received 5,272 tree emergency requests in the 24 hours around the storm, WTTW reported.
South Side neighborhoods including Mount Greenwood, South Shore, and Chatham were among the hardest hit by power outages. Structural damage was reported across the southwest suburbs. A Tornado Warning was issued at 7:20 p.m. for southeastern Will County and southern Lake County, Indiana, as radar showed rotation near Beecher, according to CBS Chicago.
August Makeup Game Creates Scheduling Headaches for Both Clubs
The August 20 makeup date burns a mutual off day for both teams. For the White Sox, it means hosting the Braves for a single game sandwiched between a series at Wrigley Field against the Cubs and a home series against the Mets, according to fan and analyst discussions reported by Winnipeg Free Press.
For the Braves, the delay may actually help. Atlanta had lost three straight games and was on the verge of a rare four-game losing streak. The postponement lets them head to New York to face the Mets without the weight of a potential sweep. The White Sox, meanwhile, must now face Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers on Friday without a momentum-building series finale win.
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