MLB officials mulling whether to postpone ALCS Game 4 due to bad weather

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on Oct 15, 2026

Published in Baseball

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CLEVELAND — Major League Baseball officials made the right call Thursday, moving the start of Game 3 of the American League Championship Series up five hours, to 1:10 p.m., to play in sunshine and under blue skies — 62 degrees at first pitch — knowing rain was coming during the original evening time slot.

They spent much of Thursday and will continue Friday morning wrestling with a potentially more complicated decision:

Whether to try to play Game 4 on Friday, which is slated to start at 6 p.m. but could be adjusted, through what is forecast to be miserable weather — day- and night-long rain, wind gusts up to 40 mph, low temperatures in the mid-40s — or proactively postpone it, which has ramifications for the rest of the series.

“They’re guessing it’s going to be a pretty rain-filled day,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said Thursday morning. “They’re hoping that maybe it will open up towards the end of the day.”

Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said all he’s been told was that “it does not look good for (Friday).”

If Friday’s game is postponed, the typical MLB adjustment would be to play Game 4 on Saturday and then Game 5 on Sunday in Cleveland.

That would eliminate the scheduled off/travel day on Sunday ahead of a potential Game 6 at Tropicana Field, which would still be played on Monday and, if needed, Game 7 on Tuesday. That means the teams could play four straight days, which would definitely impact reliever usage and could also change starter plans.

There is also a scenario where Games 4 and 5 could be played Saturday and Sunday and the teams get Monday off and play Games 6 and 7 on Tuesday and Wednesday, but that would impact planning/travel for the team headed to the World Series, which starts Oct. 23 at the NL city.

As it is, the Rays are lined up to have veteran Nick Martinez start Friday while the Guardians, with only three starters available (Foster Griffin, Parker Messick, Gavin Williams) for the series, are likely looking at a bullpen day.

Several Rays players, including Martinez, said they realize there isn’t much they can do about the situation.

“We’re just going to take it as we go,” he said. “Not much you can control about that, just be ready to go.”

Jaxed up

Griffin Jax wasn’t pleased with his first couple innings of work overall and his lack of first-pitch strikes specifically.

And obviously he was quite unhappy with the sinker he left in the middle of the plate that rookie Petey Halpin hit for the two-run, game-deciding homer in the fifth.

But Jax felt there was some good in his four-plus-inning start Thursday in the 3-2 loss to the Guardians.

“The first couple innings, I just felt myself working through some things, not in the zone as much as I’d like, and just put me a little bit of a disadvantage,” he said.

“I felt that after the third or so, obviously, when we put up those two runs (in the fourth), that really helped me just get a little bit more confidence, just to challenge these guys a little bit more.”

Cash had a similarly encouraging view.

“I thought Jax threw the ball incredibly well,” Cash said. “He settled in after the first inning, second inning, he was kind of 50/50 strike throwing, then he got into a good rhythm.”

The Rays took a 2-1 lead in the fourth, but Jax gave it back the next inning. Catcher Patrick Bailey led off the home fifth with a bouncer that went over the mound, and Jax turned and pursued the ball to try and make a play.

Rays shortstop Taylor Walls, who Wednesday was named a Gold Glove finalist for a second straight year, was coming in behind Jax and seemed positioned to have a better shot at it.

“If I don’t go for it, no one’s going to make that play,” Jax said. “I felt like it was in the sun. Kind of just lost it at last second, but I think even with a clean pick and turn to first, it’s just going to be bang bang.”

Miscellany

Yandy Diaz played his 31st Rays postseason game, surpassing Evan Longoria for the franchise record. ... In seven-game series tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 has gone on to win 71 of 102 times (69.6%), including 13 of 18 (72.2 %) in the ALCS. ... Chandler Simpson’s triple was the Rays’ first in a postseason game since Yandy Diaz in Game 5 of the 2020 World Series. ... Liam Hicks was the first Rays catcher to throw out two runners trying to steal in a postseason game, and the first to do so in the first five innings of a postseason game since 2001, when Houston’s Brad Ausmus nabbed Atlanta’s Julio Franco and Chipper Jones. ... The last time a League Championship Series game started earlier (in Eastern Time Zone) than Thursday was Game 5 of the 1988 NLCS, when the Dodgers and Mets played at 12:20 p.m.