Weather has made a mess of the Cleveland portion of the ALCS, and one fan made sure everybody knew exactly how he felt about it.
Game 3 between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field was moved up to an afternoon start to dodge the bad weather expected Thursday night. Then the rain hung around all day Friday, and Game 4 was finally postponed late in the evening.
By then, plenty of fans had already made the trip, waited around and hoped for a game that never came.
“$80 parking. $30 nachos and a Coke. And here I am back in my car headed to the hotel.
I can’t make it to Sunday’s game, so now I’m gonna miss a game. I promised my wife I’d be home by Sunday morning.
I’ve got two flights booked for Sunday morning,” the fan said.
"$80 parking. $30 nachos and a Coke. And here I am back in my car headed to the hotel.
I can't make it to Sunday's game, so now I'm gonna miss a game. I promised my wife I'd be home by Sunday morning.
I've got two flights booked for Sunday morning."
➡️ A frustrated fan sounds… pic.twitter.com/UDN9w0Y0Yx
- 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) October 17, 2026
MLB kept pushing forward even though it looked like playing Friday was a long shot. Fans showed up anyway, and it was close to 9 p.m. before the league finally called it off and sent everyone home.
The rainout changes the shape of the series. Game 5 is now on Sunday, which had been scheduled as a travel day, so plans are getting shuffled.
If Cleveland wins Game 4 on Saturday, the Guardians will be one win away from closing out the Rays in Game 5. If Tampa Bay extends the series with a win, Games 6 and 7 would move to Monday and Tuesday at Tropicana Field.
Cleveland already made one weather-shortened night work. Game 3 was played at 1 p.m., the earliest first pitch for any LCS game since 1988, and the Guardians made the most of it. Petey Halpin launched an epic two-run homer in the fifth to put Cleveland ahead 3-2, and the bullpen handled the rest as shadows crept across the field and the Guardians finished off a one-run win.
Now the focus shifts to Saturday night, when temperatures are expected to be near 50 degrees for the 8 p.m. start. Cleveland will stick with its plan to use Shawn Armstrong as an opener, the same approach that worked in the must-win Game 3 of the ALDS against the Chicago White Sox, though Daniel Espino started that one.
Game 5 is set for 5 p.m. Sunday, and the Guardians are hoping they won’t need any more baseball after that - with their eyes on a possible World Series matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers.
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 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 🡒]
Rays Fans Have Another Reason To Be Furious With MLB
Game 4 of the American League Championship Series turned into an unwanted detour Friday night when rain in Cleveland forced a postponement to Saturday, but the frustration for fans had more to do with how the news was delivered than the weather itself. The decision came after the originally scheduled first pitch, which meant plenty of people had already made the trip to the ballpark only to be told the game would not be played.
For the league, the issue now is not just the lost night but the optics of the delay in communication. Chris Rose, a media personality and Guardians fan, ripped MLBs handling of the situation, pointing to the timing of the announcement and the lack of information coming out of the league office as fans were left waiting, then turned away. [Read more 🡒]