Analyst reveals how Cleveland Guardians were impacted by early Game 1 start time

The Cleveland Guardians pulled off a miracle in September and rode a surprising run all the way to an American League Central division crown. That meant they jumped the Detroit Tigers and earned the right to host the Wild Card Series between the two teams.

Home-field advantage is crucial in any sport, but Progressive Field has a certain magic about it when it comes to the MLB postseason. The fans are loud, into the game, and the energy can be felt by those watching or even listening at home.

That is why fans were so frustrated when MLB released the start times for the Wild Card Series matchups. The Guardians, who won their division, were given a start time of 1:08 pm for all three games. Yes, 1:08 in the afternoon in the middle of a workweek with about 48 hours notice.

Cleveland fans expected some sort of snub, given the other series are in cities like Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. However, it did have an impact on the Game 1 attendance, as noted by 92.3 The Fan's Daryl Ruiter.

Only 26,186 tickets sold this afternoon for the Wild Card opener #Guardians #Tigers
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) September 30, 2025

Progressive Field has a capacity of roughly 35,000, and were only able to sell 26,186 tickets for Tuesday's Game 1. That is arguably not a bad total considering the team didn't clinch home-field advantage until Sunday afternoon.

There will surely be shade thrown from people outside of Cleveland regarding this attendance figure, but the city is nowhere near the same as a Chicago or a New York. Those cities have millions and millions of people with a variety of work schedules or the ability to attend any game no matter the time. In a smaller market like Cleveland, it's much harder for tens of thousands of people to get off work or school with such short notice.

The crowd was still loud, which is something that should be noted. But a night game with a fully packed stadium would have been a much different atmosphere. Would it have affected Tarik Skubal? Possibly, but we will never know. Yet excuses are easy to find after a close, 2-1 defeat without the full force of a packed stadium behind the home team.

MLB is the only sport with weekday afternoon start times for playoff games, and it continues to make very little sense. All the Guardians can do is win the next two games and receive some normal start times in the ALDS.