The Cleveland Guardians have Game 4 of the ALCS in their hands tonight, and they’ll try to keep the momentum rolling after Petey Halpin delivered the swing that changed Game 3. Cleveland hosts the Tampa Bay Rays at a soggy Progressive Field, with first pitch set for 8:10 p.m. Eastern.
The game will air live on TBS, truTV, HBO Max and Univision in Spanish. Fans without cable can watch with a free trial from DIRECTV, which also offers $35 off the first month. Another option is SlingTV, where Sling Orange is priced at $45.99 per month and includes TBS, TNT and ESPN, among other channels.
Halpin’s go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning off Rays starter Griffin Jax gave Cleveland a 3-2 win in Game 3 and put the Guardians ahead 2-1 in the series. Nathaniel Lowe also chipped in with an RBI double earlier in the game to help set up the victory.
The pitching staff did plenty of the heavy lifting, too. Gavin Williams, who is in the AL Cy Young conversation, struck out nine over five innings on 70 pitches.
After that, Stephen Vogt handed the ball to a bullpen that covered the final four innings and allowed just one hit. Cade Smith closed it out by winning a 10-pitch duel with Yandy Diaz and picking up a four-out save.
The historical backdrop tilts Cleveland’s way, at least on paper. Teams that win Game 3 of a best-of-seven series after the first two games are split have gone on to take the series 71 times in 102 tries, a 69.2% success rate. This is also the fourth time Cleveland has owned a 2-1 ALCS lead, though the franchise previously let those advantages slip against the New York Yankees in 1998 and the Boston Red Sox in 2007.
Tampa Bay’s offense has not done much to change the mood. Through three games against Cleveland pitching this postseason, the Rays have scored eight runs on 17 hits.
They managed only three hits in Game 3. Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero have both gone quiet, with Caminero striking out four times in Game 3 and Aranda going 0-for-10 in the series.
Tonight’s matchup also brings a different kind of pitching puzzle. Cleveland is going with Shawn Armstrong in a bullpen game, with Joey Cantillo, Tanner Bibee and Slade Cecconi available as bulk arms.
Tampa Bay will start Nick Martinez, who beat the Guardians twice in the regular season and threw 13 scoreless innings in those two outings. Martinez finished the regular season with 15 wins.
In Other News...
Guardians Put Their Trust In A Risky ALCS Game 4 Plan
Rain has already pushed Game 4 of the American League Championship Series into a delay, but the Guardians are still set on taking a calculated approach once play resumes. Holding a 2-1 edge over the Rays, Cleveland plans to piece together the matchup with a bullpen game, with Shawn Armstrong lined up to get the start in a move that says plenty about how the club views this moment in the series.
Tanner Bibee voiced confidence in the pitching group before the weather intervened, a reassuring note for a team asking a lot of its arms at a high-stakes point in October. The plan leaves little margin for error, especially against a Tampa Bay lineup looking to even the series, but Cleveland has made clear it trusts its depth enough to lean into the gamble rather than back away from it. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Fans Just Got An ALCS Curveball They Didn't Need
Rain forced a familiar October inconvenience onto the schedule Friday, pushing Game 4 of the ALCS back to Saturday and reshuffling the rest of the series with it. The delay means Game 5 has been moved to Sunday, wiping out what had been an off-day and turning the weekend into a quick turnaround for fans who had already mapped out their plans around the original calendar.
For Cleveland, the timing adds another layer to a series that already feels tense and finely balanced. The Guardians carried momentum from their Game 3 win, sparked by Petey Halpins key home run, and they are planning to go with Shawn Armstrong as an opener in the next game. Now the challenge is not just about matchups on the field, but about handling a schedule that suddenly asks everyone involved to pivot on short notice. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians ALCS Momentum Is Suddenly In MLBs Hands
Rain hung over Progressive Field before first pitch of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, turning the evening into a waiting game for the Guardians and Rays. League and team officials met to review the weather and field conditions, and with no official start time announced, Clevelands chance to keep the series moving was suddenly in the hands of the forecast.
If the game does not go forward as planned, it would likely be pushed to Sunday, with Saturdays matchup still on the schedule. For the Guardians, who are trying to ride postseason momentum at home, the delay adds another layer of uncertainty to a series that has already become a test of patience as much as execution. [Read more 🡒]