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Game 4 will take place Saturday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. ET.
Game 4 of the American League Championship Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians was rained out on Friday night. Game 4 is now set for Saturday night at Progressive Field, Game 5 will be on Sunday evening and there will be no more scheduled off days in the series. The Guardians have a 2-1 series lead after taking Game 3 on Thursday afternoon.
As rain continued to fall in Cleveland's Progressive Field throughout the early evening, MLB initially announced that the game would be in a delay and start later than the scheduled time. The hope was obviously to get the game in on Friday night and preserve Sunday as an off day for travel. The weather just never cooperated. At 9 p.m. ET, the league announced that the game had been postponed. Here's the updated series schedule
Guardians vs. Rays: Updated ALCS schedule
- Game 4: Guardians vs. Rays, 8 p.m. ET on Saturday
- Game 5: Guardians vs. Rays, 5 p.m. ET on Sunday
- Game 6 (if necessary): Rays vs. Guardians, 8 p.m. ET on Monday
- Game 7 (if necessary): Rays vs. Guardians: 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday
ALCS Game 3, Thursday in Cleveland, was originally scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET, but MLB proactively moved the game up to 1 p.m. to avoid any weather issues late in the game.
The winner of this series will advance to face the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series. Game 1 of the Fall Classic is set for next Friday (Oct. 23), and the 103-win Brewers will have home-field advantage. The Brewers completed a sweep of the two-time reigning champion Dodgers on Thursday night.
An interesting twist here is that with Game 4 being pushed back is that either team could go back to their Game 1 starter in Saturday's Game 4 without it being on short rest. In fact, let's examine the fallout here in terms of how the pitching can line up for each team.
What it means for each team's pitching situation
Rays: All-Star righty Nick Martinez was scheduled to start Game 4 Friday night, and they've announced that he'll be the starter Saturday. The Rays could have elected to go back to Drew Rasmussen, who started Game 1 and would be on normal rest for Saturday.
Martinez fell off later in the season. He had a 4.31 ERA in his last 11 starts and hasn't gone more than 3 ⅔ innings since Sept. 22. He only threw 50 pitches in his last regular-season start and then went 63 pitches in the ALDS against the Yankees.
Rasmussen went eight strong innings in Game 1 of the ALDS and pitched into the seventh inning in Game 1 of this series. It wouldn't hurt anything for the Rays to push Martinez back and would've also left the option of bringing Freddy Peralta back for Game 5 on normal rest.
Instead, they'll start Martinez in Game 4, lining up Rasmussen for Game 5 and, if necessary, Peralta in Game 6. That would likely leave Griffin Jax for Game 7, if the series goes that far.
The Rays' top relievers will all be very well rested for Game 4, just in case they do want to keep a tight leash on Martinez's workload. Closer Bryan Baker and setup men Kevin Kelly and Ian Seymour haven't pitched since Game 2 on Tuesday. Tyler Wells went on Thursday, but Cam Booser hasn't pitched since Monday. They can't overuse everyone in Games 4 and 5 if they want to win the series, but good starts and spreading out those five relievers would have them very well set up to go home for Game 6.
Guardians: The Guardians will be trying to make sure the Rays do not head back home, at least not for a Game 6. With their 2-1 lead, they can win Games 4 and 5 at home and then start preparing for the World Series.
Game 4 was shaping up as a bullpen game with reliever Shawn Armstrong listed as the starter. Manager Stephen Vogt said Friday that the team has decided to stick with the plan for Saturday.
The Guardians had the option to go back to Game 1 starter Foster Griffin in Game 4. He got in trouble in the first inning, but settled in for three scoreless innings after that. Though he has terrible numbers with the Guardians, he actually hasn't been bad in the last month or so. In his last four outings, he's given up six earned runs in 16 ⅔ innings (3.24 ERA).
For Game 5, then, they'd have Parker Messick and, if needed, Gavin Williams would be ready for a potential Game 6. With the extra day off here on Friday, it's possible Griffin got bumped from the rotation until a possible Game 7, if things get that far. Griffin could also be used in relief in Games 4 or 5.
Given what we saw in the ALDS, too, it wouldn't be all too shocking to see Williams used out of the bullpen in either Game 4 or 5 and then still take the ball, if necessary, for Game 6. He was held to 70 pitches in Game 3 of this series. Who knows? The Guardians have been creative.
In the bullpen, the Guardians used four of their top guns in Game 3 in Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Erik Sabrowski and Daniel Espino. With the postponement on Friday, those guys all get a free day of rest and that's always a bonus at this time of year. The bullpen game in Game 4 might've been especially taxing on the group, so they get a reprieve. Also, Tim Herrin and Armstrong haven't pitched since Tuesday.
It's a fully loaded group of talented bullpen arms.
