Game 4 of ALCS Between Rays, Guardians Gets Postponed

Game 4 of the ALCS between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Guardians will have to wait another night.

Oct 16, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Fans sit in the stands while they wait out a rain delay before game four of the ALCS between Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians in the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With both the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians hoping to play Game 4 of the ALCS on Friday night, Mother Nature had some other plans. 

Following an exciting Game 3 of the ALCS, there was some concern about whether or not they were going to be able to get this game in on Friday. 

MLB was proactive on Thursday, moving up the start time of Game 3 five hours to avoid bad weather in the Cleveland area. This was a wise move, and the two teams were able to get the game in. 

Ultimately, it was the Guardians who took the pivotal Game 3 behind a good outing from Gavin Williams. However, it was the bullpen for Cleveland that was really impressive in holding a one-run lead for four innings. 

Following the win, all eyes went to what the weather was going to be for Friday. It was pretty clear early on that it wasn’t looking good. With less than an hour until the start time, it was announced that Game 4 wasn’t going to be starting on time and would be delayed. 

Just after 9:00 PM EST, MLB announced that the game was going to be postponed. 

New Schedule for ALCS

Tonight’s game has been postponed.

Saturday will be Game 4 at 8 pm ET
Sunday will be Game 5 at 5 pm ET#RaysUp #ForTampaBay

— Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) October 17, 2026

With Game 4 being postponed, the two sides will be back in action on Saturday night at 8:00 PM EST. However, Sunday was supposed to be a travel day for each team, and it will now be Game 5. 

Due to both teams having to potentially play a Game 6 on Monday, MLB has the start time a little bit earlier at 5:00 EST. 

This postponement has certainly thrown a wrinkle into the series, and it will be interesting to see how both sides adjust. Game 4 was going to be a bullpen game for the Guardians, who now might elect to change course. If the series goes seven games, that would be four days in a row, and it might not behoove the Guardians to go with a full bullpen game. 

Since the ALCS started on Monday, both teams could elect to go with their Game 1 starters on normal rest now. That will certainly be tempting for the Rays to get another game out of their ace Drew Rasmussen, but the plan appears to be to stick with Nick Martinez.

Nick Martinez will still start Game 4 tomorrow, on Saturday, Kevin Cash said.

— Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) October 17, 2026

Now, both sides will be waiting another night to play Game 4 of the ALCS.