Rain threat leads Red Sox to push back Sunday start time with Tigers

The Red Sox will play the Tigers at 4:35 p.m. on Sunday, the scheduled game pushed back three hours because of forecasted rain.

The team said it consulted with Major League Baseball and that the later start could take advantage of better weather expected later in the afternoon “and provides the best opportunity to play the game on Sunday.”

Ace Garrett Crochet (2-2, 7.58 ERA) will take the hill to face former Astros star Framber Valdez (1-1, 3.75 ERA), who joined Detroit on a three-year, $115 million deal in early February.

Even before the move, Cora called this series “the toughest weekend” of the season schedule-wise.

“You have to be very smart [about rest,]” Cora said.

The teams have split the first two games of the four-game series, with the finale the traditional Patriots’ Day 11:10 a.m. start.