Rain washes out ALCS Game 4 in Cleveland; Guardians-Rays pushed to Saturday night

Major League Baseball postponed Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Friday night after a rain delay of nearly an hour at Progressive Field in Cleveland, pushing the Tampa Bay Rays’ clash with the Cleveland Guardians to Saturday night.

The postponement was announced at about 9pm ET, with rain still falling. The grounds crew had removed the tarp from the infield at 7:46pm to cheers from fans, only to put it back at 7:57pm as the rain refused to let up, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

Game 4 will now be played on Saturday, 17 October at 8pm ET, with Game 5 pushed to Sunday, 18 October at 5pm ET, USA Today reported.

The Guardians hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after Thursday’s 3-2 Game 3 win, sealed by rookie Petey Halpin’s two-run homer in the fifth and a bullpen that retired 16 of the final 17 Rays batters. Game 3 had itself been moved up by five hours to avoid severe weather, and Friday’s forecast brought another wave of rain and wind gusts of up to 37mph.

Neither team had announced a Game 4 starter before the postponement, though the Rays were expected to hand the ball to Nick Martinez.