After a rainstorm flooded the warning track Tuesday night at PNC Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates are issuing two complimentary tickets to fans who endured the two-hour, 40-minute delay.

“We appreciate the patience of our fans,” Pirates senior vice president of communications Brian Warecki said in a statement. “We will be rewarding their patience by issuing two (complimentary) tickets for every account who scanned into tonight’s game. Redemption details will be emailed directly to those accounts later this evening.”

In the middle of the second inning, play was halted between the Pirates and the San Diego Padres due to a rainstorm. The stoppage began at 7:01 p.m., and after an hour delay it was announced that play was expected to resume at 8:15 p.m. But the warning track was flooded, requiring the grounds crew to clean up the excess water. That required an additional 90-minute delay before the game resumed at 9:41 p.

“The intense rain caused a flash flood effect on the warning track, resulting in the draining system to be overrun by dirt flowing off the warning track,” Warecki said in the statement. “PNC Park crews worked diligently to clear the drains and divert the water to the best of their abilities. During that process, there were active conversations with all involved to ensure the playing surface was safe to continue play. Once all parties agreed, the game was resumed.”

Members of the grounds crew used brooms and squeegees to push water from the North Side Notch in left-center toward the bullpen. The grounds crew members received an ovation from the crowd as they walked off the field, but their work wasn’t done. The warning track in right field also flooded and had to be tended to next. After the umpire crew conferred with Major League Baseball officials to deem the playing surface safe, the game resumed at 9:41 p.m.

It was the second time in three games the Pirates endured a lengthy rain delay. Their game Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks had a 68-minute delay in the fourth inning.

The Pirates have had rain delays of three-plus hours at PNC Park, though both games were stopped. Their 3-1 win over the San Francisco Giants was called in the fifth inning after a three-hour, eight-minute delay. They played one inning against the Colorado Rockies on May 22, 2016, before the game was called after a delay of 3:37.

Upcoming Local Events

More local events

Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.