MLB2 hours ago2 minute read

Guardians and Rays Face Packed Schedule After Game 4 Rainout

Game 4 of the ALCS was postponed due to rain, wiping out rest days and pushing Cleveland and Tampa Bay into a tight schedule.

The EagleEyeOdds deskWritten from the match data, checked against our model before it goes out

Rain Pushes Game 4 to Saturday

Rain washed out Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Friday night in Cleveland. The Guardians and the Tampa Bay Rays waited as long as possible before officials postponed the contest late into the evening.

Rays manager Kevin Cash noted that the weather gave them little choice. "It never cleared out the way they were hoping it would," Cash said. "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. Made the most sense at this point and this hour, with no guarantee that there wasn't another band coming."

Game 4 is now scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. The pitching matchup will remain the same. All Star hurler Nick Martinez will start for the Rays, while reliever Shawn Armstrong will open a bullpen game for the Guardians.

A Packed Road Ahead

Cleveland currently holds a 2-1 series lead after edging out a 3-2 victory in Game 3 on Thursday. That previous game had already been shifted from 6 p.m. to 1 p.m. ET to beat incoming bad weather.

The new delay alters the entire series calendar. Game 5 will now be played on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET on what was originally an off day. If the series extends to Game 6 on Monday and Game 7 on Tuesday, those games will happen at Tropicana Field. That means the two teams would play four games over four consecutive days.

Waiting on the other side are the Milwaukee Brewers, who advanced on Friday and get a full week of rest before Game 1 of the World Series next Friday in Milwaukee. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt was calm about the sudden change. "This is what we do," Vogt said. "We play every day. Our guys get psyched or get cranked up an hour before game time. That never happened today. So it was a pretty calm day overall."

What it means for the next game

Here is what our model projects for the series:

Tampa Bay Rays at Cleveland Guardians (MLB, Sun, 18 Oct): Cleveland Guardians win 48%, Tampa Bay Rays win 52%; projected score Cleveland Guardians 4, Tampa Bay Rays 4. Our safest pick: Guardians +3.5. Our best value pick: Over 7 runs.

Cleveland Guardians at Tampa Bay Rays (MLB, Tue, 20 Oct): Tampa Bay Rays win 48%, Cleveland Guardians win 52%; projected score Tampa Bay Rays 4, Cleveland Guardians 4. Our safest pick: Rays +2.5.