Royals-White Sox suspended

After two delays, a tornado warning in the area, lightning and thunder in view and earshot and a drenching of Guaranteed Rate Field that only groundskeeper Roger “The Sodfather” Bossard might be capable of fixing, the Royals-White Sox Memorial Day game was suspended in the fifth inning of a 1-1 tie.

The game will resume at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday before the scheduled 7:10 p.m. game, which will begin approximately 30-40 minutes after the conclusion of the suspended game but no sooner than 6:40 p.m.

During a few brief moments between the two delays, but with rain still falling, the Sox erased a 1-0 deficit on Yolmer Sanchez’s RBI single against lefty reliever Brian Flynn that scored James McCann from second. Jose Rondon, who represented the go-ahead run, was caught going too far past second by right fielder Whit Merrifield.

With rain pelting the field again, umpiring crew chief Bill Miller suspended play once again. Had the Sox had another minute to score another run, they might have had a victory and an official game. Or they might have lost it — five innings is an official game, which is what Miller’s crew was desperately trying to get in.

“Mother Nature is Mother Nature; she picked up steam,’’ manager Rick Renteria said. “Everybody did the best they could to try to get this in.”

Sanchez’s at-bat started from the left side of the plate against righty Homer Bailey and ended from the right side against Flynn. Right before Sanchez’s tying single, play had resumed at 5:38 p.m. after a nearly three-hour rain delay. Sanchez, standing on second when play was called a second time, intentionally fell facedown and made mud angels near third base.

Then he emptied a Gatorade bucket over his already-drenched uniform in the dugout to the applause of teammates. The delays, events and weather drama begged for comic relief.

At 6:45 p.m., well after Sox righty Ivan Nova and Bailey had started things off at 1:10, play was suspended after another delay of more than an hour.

“The field’s got a lot of water on it now, especially after the last dousing,’’ Renteria said. “It had a lot of water on it, obviously, accumulating during the whole ballgame. I’m sure [Bossard is] going to have his hands full getting ready for tomorrow.”

Tim, Leury scratched again

Tim Anderson (wrist) missed his third consecutive start, and Leury Garcia (shoulder) missed a second straight game.

“Tim wants to play,” said Renteria, who wouldn’t commit to him playing Tuesday. “I need to make sure he’s feeling really comfortable with his wrist. He’s getting better. There’s no doubt that he’s better today than he was yesterday. Hopefully, we’ll have him in there before this series is up.”

Anderson looked good taking ground balls. Swinging a bat is more difficult.

“Man, I wanted to play today,” Anderson said. “Just got to get treatment.”

Jay close to rehab assignment

Outfielder Jon Jay, who hasn’t played a game with the Sox after being signed as a free agent in the offseason, is with the team to have his groin re-evaluated.

Jay has been playing in extended spring-training games and says he feels good. He could be headed for a minor-league rehab assignment.