Guardians face Rays in ALCS Game 4 tonight in Cleveland
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- Game 4 starts at 8 PM ET on Friday at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
- Cleveland leads the series 2-1. A win puts the Guardians one win from the World Series.
- Shawn Armstrong opens for Cleveland. Nick Martinez starts for Tampa Bay. Rain could cause delays.
The Cleveland Guardians can move one step closer to the World Series on Friday night. They host the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 4 of the ALCS.
Cleveland leads the series 2-1. The ALCS is the American League Championship Series. It is a best-of-seven series. The first team to win four games goes to the World Series.
First pitch is set for 8 PM ET. The game is at Progressive Field in Cleveland. It will air on TBS, truTV, UniMas, and HBO Max, according to MLB.
The start time moved back two hours. It was first set for 6 PM ET. The change came after the Brewers swept the Dodgers in the NLCS on Thursday night.
Milwaukee now waits in the World Series. The winner of this series will face the Brewers.
Rain is the big question for Game 4. Rain is in the forecast in Cleveland for most of Friday. But there is a window from 8 PM to 11 PM ET that could let the teams play. As of 11 AM Friday, Major League Baseball still planned to play the game as scheduled, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
What happened
Game 3 gave Cleveland the series lead. The Guardians won 3-2 on Thursday afternoon at home. Petey Halpin hit the big homer in the fifth inning.
His two-run shot put Cleveland ahead 3-2. The lead held up.
The game started well for Cleveland. Nathaniel Lowe doubled in Jo Adell in the second inning. That made it 1-0.
Tampa Bay then took the lead in the fourth inning. Chandler Simpson hit a two-out triple. It scored Yandy Diaz and Victor Mesa Jr.
That made it 2-1 for the Rays.
Halpin answered in the fifth. Patrick Bailey led off with a single. Halpin then drove a two-run homer over the wall.
Cleveland led 3-2. That was all the scoring Cleveland needed.
The Guardians bullpen did the rest. Gavin Williams got the win. He pitched five innings.
He gave up two runs and struck out nine batters. Then four relievers closed the game. Daniel Espino, Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis, and Cade Smith allowed just one hit in four innings.
Smith recorded the final four outs for the save.
Tampa Bay had one last chance. Richie Palacios doubled in the eighth inning. He moved to third base on a groundout.
Then Diaz faced Smith in a long battle. Diaz fought through 10 pitches. Smith struck him out.
Cleveland pitchers retired 16 of the final 17 batters they faced.
The series started in Florida. Cleveland took Game 1. Tampa Bay took Game 2 to tie the series. Then the teams moved to Cleveland for Game 3. Now Game 4 is also in Cleveland.
Why it matters
Game 4 is a turning point. A Cleveland win gives the Guardians a 3-1 lead. That would put Tampa Bay one loss from elimination.
A Tampa Bay win ties the series 2-2. That would reset the series with three games left.
The pitching plans show how much is at stake. Cleveland will use a bullpen game. That means no single starter pitches deep into the game.
Instead, several relief pitchers share the work. The bullpen is the group of relief pitchers on a team.
Shawn Armstrong will be the opener for Cleveland. An opener is a pitcher who starts the game but pitches only a short time. He sets up the rest of the bullpen.
Armstrong will likely throw one or two innings at most, according to the Beacon Journal.
Armstrong has been strong in these playoffs. This will be his fifth appearance this postseason. He has allowed only one hit in 5 and 1/3 innings.
He has struck out five batters.
His story is a comeback. He thought his season was done in late July. He suffered a calf strain.
A calf strain is a muscle injury in the lower leg. He returned during the final week of the regular season. Armstrong was drafted by Cleveland in 2011.
He made his big-league debut four years later. He was traded to Seattle in 2017. He spent time with four other teams, including Tampa Bay.
He signed with Cleveland this season. He said the moment is hard to put in words.
Cleveland may also use Joey Cantillo for several innings. Cantillo is well rested. The Rays were much less productive against left-handed pitchers this season, according to the Beacon Journal.
Cantillo throws left-handed.
Tampa Bay goes with a more normal plan. Nick Martinez starts for the Rays. Martinez had a strong regular season.
He went 15-6. That means 15 wins and 6 losses. His ERA was 3.10.
ERA means earned run average. It shows how many runs a pitcher allows per nine innings. Lower is better.
His 3.10 ERA ranked sixth in the American League.
Martinez was third in the American League with 26 starts in which he allowed three runs or fewer. He started Game 3 of the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees. He pitched 3 and 2/3 innings in that game.
He allowed two runs on five hits. He walked one batter and struck out three. He said the game will be a dogfight.
Tampa Bay needs its offense to wake up. The Rays have scored no more than three runs in any of the first three games. Their top three hitters have struggled.
Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz, and Jonathan Aranda have combined for 5 hits in 34 at-bats, according to MLB. Aranda has no hits in 10 at-bats.
Cleveland has its own surprise stars. Halpin is a rookie. A rookie is a first-year player.
His Game 3 homer was a go-ahead shot. Catcher Patrick Bailey is slugging .609 this postseason, according to MLB. Slugging measures power hitting.
His career slugging mark is .339. That shows how hot he has been in these playoffs.
The Cleveland bullpen has carried a heavy load. The Guardians used six pitchers in Game 1. They used four in Game 2.
They used five in Game 3. Closer Cade Smith has appeared in seven of eight playoff games, according to MLB. A closer is the reliever who finishes close games.
Manager Stephen Vogt must mix and match arms for Game 4.
What happens next
If Cleveland wins Game 4, the Guardians will lead 3-1. They would be one win from the World Series. Tampa Bay would face elimination on Saturday. Elimination means one more loss ends the season.
If Tampa Bay wins, the series will be tied 2-2. Both teams would then need two more wins. The series would feel like a brand-new best-of-three.
Weather could still change the plan. An ALCS game has not been postponed since 2019. That year, the New York Yankees hosted the Houston Astros.
If Game 4 is rained out, the teams would play Saturday and Sunday in Cleveland. Games after that, if needed, would stay in St Petersburg on Monday and Tuesday.
The winner of this series gets a prize. The Milwaukee Brewers wait in the World Series. Milwaukee swept the Dodgers in four games.
The Brewers reached their first World Series since 1982. One of these two teams will get the chance to face them.
For now, all eyes are on Friday night in Cleveland. The rain, the bullpen game, and the Rays offense will decide Game 4. First pitch is at 8 PM ET.
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