The key facts

  • Game 4 of the series postponed to Saturday due to rain in Cleveland
  • The Guardians lead 2-1 in the best-of-four series
  • The series winner will face the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series starting October 23

Weather-related postponement

Game 4 of the Major League Baseball playoffs between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays was postponed to Saturday after heavy rains in Cleveland on Friday. Officials first announced a delay to the start at Progressive Field, but the rain continued and the grounds crew was unable to prepare the field for play. Fans watched as staff removed water from the warning track and drained water from the tarp covering the infield. First pitch was scheduled for 8:08 p.m. (00:08 GMT); about an hour after that time, MLB announced the postponement of the game to Saturday, with Game 5 to be played in Cleveland on Sunday.

Tight series schedule

The Guardians lead 2-1 in the best-of-four series and could close it out at home against the top-seeded Rays. However, the schedule is now tight: if necessary, the teams will travel to Florida for Games 6 and 7 on Monday and Tuesday, creating the possibility of playing four games in four days.

Managers' reactions

Rays manager Kevin Cash said he was not upset by the late decision to postpone: 'I'm not upset at all. I have no reason to be upset. I think we did everything right, just like in the regular season.' He said that Nick Martinez, who had been scheduled to start on Friday, will remain the starter on Saturday, and beyond that the team will act as circumstances dictate. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt called the day 'a long wait without a game,' adding: 'That's baseball life. This is Cleveland. We're used to these delays.' Vogt will also keep Shawn Armstrong as the starting pitcher in Game 4 and believes the players will adapt without problems to a possible four games in a row, which is not uncommon in the regular season.

Odds and the next stage

The Rays are chasing the first World Series title in franchise history — the team previously lost the finals in 2008 and 2020. Cleveland is seeking to end the longest active title drought in MLB: the last championship dates to 1948; since then, the team has reached the World Series four times and lost, most recently in 2016. The series winner will face the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series, which begins October 23. The Brewers crushed the defending two-time champion Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 in the National League series.