Rain Pushes ALCS Game 4 to Saturday as Series Deadlock Continues
Game 4 of the American League Championship Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians was postponed Friday night because of persistent rain. Major League Baseball had hoped for a three-hour window of dry weather to complete the contest, but the showers never let up.
"It never cleared out the way they were hoping. It started to get later in the hour, and MLB and I think both clubs did everything they could to try to get it in," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Made the most sense, like, at this point and this hour, with no guarantee that there wasn't another band coming." Guardians manager Stephen Vogt echoed that the decision followed extensive discussion. "We knew how many days ago that today was going to be a challenge. Numerous weather calls, numerous back and forths, and ultimately MLB decided we needed to wait it out," he said. "Obviously it's an important game, and we need to make sure we're doing everything we can to play the games when they're scheduled. But MLB ultimately decided to wait this one out." pariuri floorball
The series will resume Saturday at 8 p.m. ET at Progressive Field, with both clubs sticking with their originally scheduled starters. Cleveland will deploy a bullpen game opened by Shawn Armstrong, while Nick Martinez takes the mound for Tampa Bay. It will mark Armstrong's fifth postseason appearance; he has allowed just one hit across 5 1/3 innings with five strikeouts this October. Martinez went 3 2/3 innings in his Division Series start against the New York Yankees, allowing two runs on five hits. During the regular season, he went 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA, sixth-best in the American League, and ranked third in the league with 26 starts allowing three runs or fewer. Game 5 is set for Sunday at 5 p.m. in Cleveland, followed by a potential Game 6 Monday at 8 p.m. and a possible Game 7 Tuesday at 8 p.m., both in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Cleveland holds a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series after Petey Halpin's two-run homer lifted the Guardians to a 3-2 win in Game 3 on Thursday. This is the first ALCS postponement since 2019, when the Yankees hosted the Houston Astros. With the schedule now compressed, both clubs could be forced to play their remaining games without a break through a potential Game 7. That would give the Milwaukee Brewers extra rest; they completed a four-game sweep of the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series and await the winner of the Rays-Guardians matchup, with the World Series opening Oct. 23 in Milwaukee - the franchise's first Fall Classic appearance since 1982.
