Finally, with Game 2 of Friday\u2019s split-admission doubleheader underway, the Red Sox and Cubs got their answer: Major League Baseball determined that the teams will play Game 162 of the season at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., at 3:05 p.m. on Sunday. <\/p>\n
The relocation of the final game of the regular season (previously scheduled for Saturday at 7:15 p.m.) was the result of a nor\u2019easter expected to batter New England throughout the weekend, dumping several inches of rain on the Boston area. The expected deluge prompted the Sox to shake up their three-game series, with a doubleheader on Friday, followed by a flight to Florida, and then a game on Sunday. The game originally scheduled for Sunday was shifted to Friday at 1:05 p.m.; Friday\u2019s scheduled game was moved up to a 5:35 p.m. start time.<\/p>\n
The circumstance, of course, was not ideal. But both teams recognized the need to remain flexible for a situation that was subject to weather\u2019s whims. <\/p>\n
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\u201cAs inconvenient as is for us, it\u2019s inconvenient for Chicago, too,\u201d said Red Sox manager Chad Tracy. \u201cIt\u2019s the nature of Mother Nature if you will, and it\u2019s also the nature of the schedules being played, and there\u2019s still meaningful games. So I kind of start and stop there with it. I wish it wasn\u2019t happening, but I understand what\u2019s going on, and so does the team. So we\u2019ll just we\u2019ll deal with whatever gets put in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Red Sox players arrived at Fenway on Friday packed and prepared for the possibility that they\u2019d be leaving Boston for a road trip that could last up to 11 days: Friday night\u2019s scheduled flight to St. Petersburg, an offday\/workout day on Saturday, Sunday\u2019s game to conclude the regular season against the Cubs, a workout day on Monday, and a Wild Card Series in New York, potentially followed by the first two games of the ALDS back in St. Petersburg on Oct. 3 and 5.<\/p>\n
Cubs players likewise came to Boston prepared for a number of scenarios, including the possibility that their Wild Card Series could take place at Wrigley Field or in San Diego, depending on the outcome of the three games against the Red Sox.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the players\u2019 perspective, it\u2019s just show up and play,\u201d said Cubs manager Craig Counsell. \u201cEverybody else worries about all this other stuff. Players get to play \u2026 Just tell us where to play. We\u2019ll play. We\u2019ll show up and play.\u201d<\/p>\n
In some ways, the Red Sox celebrated the uncertain way of ending the regular season, given the knuckleballing trajectory of their season as well as the fact that travel difficulties \u2014 flight delays out of Colorado in mid-June, and getting stuck in Chicago in the middle of their winning streak in July \u2014 fell in the middle of their best stretch of the season and transformed how they approached the rest of the year. The team embraced a \u201cshow-and-go\u201d style of preparation, with players reporting later and spending less time at the field \u2014 particularly at home \u2014 prior to games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have had way worse travel days this year,\u201d said Tracy. \u201cSo [the relocation of Game 162 is] just the plane ride, a day off potentially [Saturday], we\u2019ll get some work in. It\u2019s been a lot worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @alexspeier<\/a>.<\/p>\n