MLB reveals slightly frustrating Cleveland Guardians Wild Card Series start times

The Cleveland Guardians will be playing in the afternoon for the entire Wild Card round against the Detroit Tigers.

Sep 28, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; The Cleveland Guardians celebrate after winning the American League Central Division at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians pulled off the greatest divisional comeback in MLB history and earned the right to host a Wild Card Series starting Tuesday. That series will come against the rival Detroit Tigers, and fans may want to know if they will need to take off work to watch the games.

Unfortunately, that will likely have to be the case for fans. MLB released the start times for all four series and the Guardians-Tigers matchup has a 1:08 pm start time for all three potential games.

Guardians-Tigers will air at 1:08 pm ET on ESPN on Tuesday, Wednesday and, if necessary, Thursday

— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) September 28, 2025

This was to be expected given the other three series are being played in Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles, respectively. Cleveland didn't stand a fair chance in the eyes of the schedule makers.

However, Progressive Field will still be electric, as these early start times are nothing new for Guardians fans. If the series does go three games, there is also the possibility they get a later start time depending on the results of the other three series.

If other series end in two and CLE/DET goes three, they’d move it back (to 3:08, or if it’s the only game, to 7:38)

— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) September 28, 2025

The early start times are not ideal for fans, but the team should be able to lock in with no issue. Game 1 will set the tone for the rest of the series, as we will see Gavin Williams go up against Tarik Skubal. The Guardians have indeed beaten the Tigers twice with Skubal on the mound over the past two weeks. However, he has a combined two earned runs in those two starts.

The Tigers may also be a bit more loose now that they are in the postseason and no longer have to talk about their epic AL Central collapse. The slates are wiped clean and both the Guardians and Tigers are 0-0, needing two wins to advance.

No matter what happens, this remains one of the most memorable regular seasons in franchise history. The Guardians erased a 15.5-game deficit and officially clinched the division in the eighth inning of Game 162. And to cap it off? Brayan Rocchio hit a walk-off three-run homer to end the regular season in the most dramatic way possible.

The key will be the starting pitching, which means Williams in Game 1 and likely Tanner Bibee in Game 2. After that, well, we can all figure that out when the time comes. Ideally, the Guardians will take the first two games of the series and get some rest before an ALDS showdown with the Seattle Mariners.