FILE PHOTO: Oct 2, 2019; Oakland, CA, USA; Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred smiles before the 2019 American League Wild Card playoff baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays at RingCentral Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
NEW YORK – Game 4 of the American League Championship Series between the visiting Houston Astros and New York Yankees has been postponed because of expected inclement weather on Wednesday night.
The postponement decision was made approximately eight hours before the 8:08 p.m. ET start time.
First pitch for Game 4 will be on Thursday at 8:08 p.m. ET, while Game 5 has been rescheduled for 7:08 p.m. ET on Friday at Yankee Stadium.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said earlier Wednesday that Major League Baseball was monitoring the situation and likely would make an announcement well ahead of the scheduled first pitch. The forecast projected a 100 percent chance of rain at first pitch, with the rain expected to last all night.
The Astros hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after posting a 4-1 victory on Tuesday.
The winner of the ALCS advances to the World Series to face the Washington Nationals, who completed a four-game series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.
The Yankees and Astros were planning on using openers and then relying on their bullpens for Game 4, but now will be able to use Game 1 starters on Thursday. New York likely will start Masahiro Tanaka (2-0, 0.82 ERA postseason) while Houston could turn to fellow right-hander Zack Greinke (0-2, 8.38)
The rainout eliminates the travel day scheduled for Friday should the series return to Houston this weekend.
— Field Level Media