Major League Baseball has moved up the start time of Game 3 of the American League Championship Series from 6 p.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET on Thursday because of expected inclement weather in Cleveland. The announcement came Wednesday, when the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians were off after opening the series with two games at Tropicana Field, an enclosed ballpark not affected by the elements.
Rain is in the forecast for northeast Ohio Thursday night as the series moves to Cleveland's open-air Progressive Field. The series is tied at one game apiece after the Guardians won Game 1 on Monday and the Rays rebounded to win Game 2 on Tuesday, 3-1. Games 3, 4 and 5 are scheduled at Progressive Field over three consecutive days through Saturday.
MLB said the change, based on forecasted rain Thursday night, was made proactively to stay on schedule in the ALCS. The league emphasized that the decision was intended to keep the series moving rather than wait for conditions to deteriorate.
If necessary, Games 6 and 7 would return to Tropicana Field after a scheduled off-day Sunday, giving the series a possible finish in a controlled indoor setting.
Source: ESPN MLB · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing