Originally the plan was for the start of Friday’s series opener between the Red Sox and Yankees to be moved up to 6:30 p.m., that way fans would have more time to catch Game 4 of the NBA Finals later in the evening.

Mother Nature had other ideas.

The start of Friday’s game has officially been delayed due to inclement weather in the Boston area. The tarp came out shortly before 5:30 p.m. after rain started falling, and as of this writing no new start time has been announced.

Game 4 of the NBA Finals is set to tip off at 8:30 p.m. The Boston Celtics need one more win to clinch an NBA-record 18th championship.

Red Sox move Yankees series opener earlier for Game 4 of NBA Finals

This is the first rain delay of the season at Fenway Park, but rain has become a familiar sight whenever the Red Sox and Yankees meet. Last September, when the two rivals last met at Fenway Park, rain battered New England throughout the week, resulting in two of the four games being postponed and made up as doubleheaders the following day.

The Yankees come into the weekend with the best record in MLB at 49-22, while the Red Sox are currently third in the AL East at 35-34.

Red Sox lineup

Jarren Duran LF

David Hamilton SS

Tyler O’Neill RF

Rafael Devers 3B

Masataka Yoshida DH

Connor Wong C

Enmanuel Valdez 2B

Dom Smith 1B

Ceddanne Rafaela CF

Brayan Bello P

Yankees lineup

Anthony Volpe SS

Juan Soto LF

Aaron Judge CF

Alex Verdugo RF

Giancarlo Stanton DH

Anthony Rizzo 1B

Gleyber Torres 2B

Oswaldo Cabrera 3B

Jose Trevino C

Luis Gil P