Cleveland will open Game 4 of the AL Championship Series on Friday night with Shawn Armstrong, while Tampa Bay will start Nick Martinez. The Guardians lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 after Petey Halpin's two-run homer sparked a 3-2 win in Game 3 on Thursday afternoon. Both teams delayed announcing their pitching plans because of weather. Rain is expected in Cleveland most of Friday, but a window between 8-11 p.m. ET could allow the game to be played. The start time was also pushed back two hours to 8 p.m. ET after the Milwaukee Brewers swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.
No ALCS game has been postponed since 2019, when the New York Yankees hosted the Houston Astros. This will be Armstrong's fifth appearance this postseason in what will be a bullpen game for Cleveland. The right-hander has allowed only one hit in 5⅓ innings with five strikeouts. Armstrong thought his season was over in late July after a calf strain, but he returned during the final week of the regular season. Cleveland drafted him in the 18th round in 2011, and he made his big league debut four years later before being traded to Seattle in 2017 and spending time with four other organizations, including Tampa Bay, before signing with Cleveland this season.
Armstrong said pitching in front of his hometown fans meant a lot. "Obviously I played here, I got drafted here, coming back here and being able to be in this situation is -- words can't describe it," he said.
Martinez started Game 3 of the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees, going 3⅔ innings and allowing two runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts. The right-hander went 15-6 during the regular season with a 3.10 ERA, sixth in the AL, and was third in the league with 26 starts in which he allowed three runs or fewer. "It's just like my starts throughout the year; it's going to be a dogfight going in, just to see how many outs I can get for this team, it's important," he said Thursday.
Source: ESPN MLB · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing