![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/guardians-rays-rain-delay-ALCS-Game-4.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Why was Rays-Guardians ALCS Game 4 delayed today? Here’s why MLB halted play and when the game could start.<\/p>\n
Rain has put ALCS Game 4 between the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> and Cleveland Guardians<\/a> in doubt, with Tampa Bay one loss from a 3-1 series deficit. A \u201csteady, moderately heavy\u201d rain was described as falling<\/a> on Progressive Field in Cleveland at 5 p.m. ET, about three hours before the scheduled 8:08 p\/m. first pitch.<\/p>\n At 7:20, after hours of rain, MLB announced that the start of the game<\/a> would indeed be delayed. But no new start time was announced. At 7:45, \u201cthe Cleveland Guardians\u2019 grounds crew has begun working on the warning track,\u201d according to reporter Jack Berney<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cTonight\u2019s scheduled 8:08 p.m. (ET) ALCS Game Four in Cleveland will begin in a delay. We will provide updates regarding the preparation of the field and any other potential adjustments as they become available,\u201d the Guardians posted moments later<\/a>, to their social media channels.<\/p>\n Scott Smith, sports director of Fox13, posted his projection of a start time<\/a> no earlier than 9 p.m. ET. An online rumor claimed that first pitch had been set for 10:10 p.m.<\/a> but as of 8 p.m., the rumor remained only that, a rumor, and completely unconfirmed.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they can get the game in tonight if they can dry the warning track,\u201d wrote meteorologist Bobby Deskins of WTSP in Tampa<\/a> at about 6:40 p.m. \u201cMay have to start after 8pm, but before 9pm. Heaviest rain has moved through, light stuff later is thinning out!\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cHeavy rain and isolated storms are ongoing near and ofc at Progressive Field in Cleveland,\u201d posted the weather account SevereMetricsWX<\/a> at 7:15 p.m. \u201cThe next 20-25 mins from now could be telling as a break in the intensity of the rain could occur then opening things up for game time. Still TBD at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRain continues to come down here at Progressive Field. Field is tarped but the warning track is absolutely soaked with large puddles of water. We are less that two hours to first pitch,\u201d wrote MyNews13 sports reporter Mike Cairns<\/a> at 6:15 p.m.<\/p>\n \u201cThe standing water on the warning track is deep enough to read the reflection of the signs on the left field wall. And it is raining steadily. No postponement yet, wrote News-Herald reporter Jeff Schudel<\/a> at 5:32 p.m. ET. \u201cThe gates just opened to fans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust under two hours until what\u2019s expected to be first pitch for Game 4 and it\u2019s raining sideways in Cleveland,\u201d wrote Rays sideline reporter Ryan Bass<\/a> at 6:15 p.m. \u201cRays players had started warm up tosses but scurried to the dugout and clubhouse soon after.\u201d<\/p>\n With rain still coming down steadily at 6:08., according to Cade Cracas of SINow.com<\/a>, both teams were still \u201cawaiting the verdict.\u201d <\/p>\n Sports meteorologist Kevin Roth of MySportsWeather.com<\/a> put the chance of rain at 8 p.m. at 51%, escalating to 57% by 9 p.m. and 64% an hour after that. If Roth\u2019s forecast proves accurate, getting the game in, at least in uninterrupted fashion, seems less than likely.<\/p>\n No ALCS game has been postponed since 2019, when the Yankees hosted the Houston Astros<\/a>, Reedy reported. Game 4 airs on TBS and HBO Max, according to WKBN\u2018s Game 4 broadcast report<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cTrying to play this game tonight is absurd,\u201d wrote Guardians podcasters The Dery Brothers<\/a> at about 5:10 p.m. as heavy rain continued to soak the field. \u201cIt\u2019s an affront to the integrity of the series and the game making the teams play in this rain and wind. Sunday is totally clear. MLB is more concerned about avoiding going up against the NFL.<\/p>\n CLEVELAND GUARDIANS STARTING LINEUP<\/p>\n SP: Shawn Armstrong<\/a> (RHP) \u2022 2-1, 4.58 ERA<\/p>\n ALCS Game 4 \u2022 October 16, 2026 \u2022 Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH \u2022 8:00 PM ET \u2022 Rays (1-2) at Guardians (2-1)<\/p>\n # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lineups confirmed. Regular season stats shown (AVG \/ SLG). ALCS Game 4 \u2022 Series: CLE leads 2-1. A Cleveland win clinches a 3-1 series lead.<\/p>\n Progressive Field Forecast for Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cleveland Guardians<\/p>\n The Weather Channel puts the chance of rain in Cleveland at 44 percent at 6 p.m. ET, 62 percent at 7 p.m. and 50 percent at 8 p.m., according to Bleacher Report\u2018s updated Game 4 forecast<\/a>.<\/p>\n The National Weather Service forecasts showers mainly after 5 p.m., with an 80 percent chance, and again before 2 a.m., also at 80 percent. Winds out of the west and north hold near 20 mph, with gusts between 33 mph and 38 mph. Temperatures fall through the upper 50s and into the low 50s by evening.<\/p>\n Gusts reached 32 mph in downtown Cleveland during light rain earlier in the day, according to AccuWeather, via Central Oregon Daily<\/a>. Winds of 27 mph are blowing in toward the plate with a temperature of 54 degrees, according to CBS Sports\u2018 Game 4 betting preview<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cleveland leads the best-of-seven series 2-1 after Petey Halpin<\/a>\u2018s two-run homer produced a 3-2 victory in Game 3, according to NBC Sports\u2018 report on Game 3<\/a>. A win tonight would leave the Guardians one victory from their first World Series since 2016, according to Yahoo Sports\u2018 Game 4 preview<\/a>.<\/p>\n MLB<\/a> moved Game 3 from 6 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday to avoid evening showers, according to The Associated Press\u2019 Game 3 report<\/a>.<\/p>\n TAMPA BAY RAYS STARTING LINEUP<\/p>\n SP: Nick Martinez<\/a> (RHP) \u2022 15-6, 3.10 ERA<\/p>\n ALCS Game 4 \u2022 October 16, 2026 \u2022 Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH \u2022 8:00 PM ET \u2022 Rays (1-2) at Guardians (2-1)<\/p>\n # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lineups confirmed. Regular season stats shown (AVG \/ SLG). ALCS Game 4 \u2022 Series: CLE leads 2-1.<\/p>\n Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Guardians Pitching Plans and Schedule Impact<\/p>\n Shawn Armstrong will open for Cleveland in a bullpen game, and Nick Martinez will start for Tampa Bay, according to ESPN\u2018s Game 4 pitching story<\/a>. Both clubs held back their pitching announcements because of the weather. Armstrong has allowed one hit in 5 1\/3 postseason innings, with five strikeouts.<\/p>\n Martinez carries a 3.10 ERA over 180 innings this season. He had extra rest after manager Kevin Cash gave Game 3 to Griffin Jax<\/a>, according to ClutchPoints, citing Marc Topkin\u2019s reporting<\/a>.<\/p>\n A stoppage after first pitch can end a starter\u2019s night early. A two-hour, 27-minute rain delay knocked Pittsburgh\u2019s Paul Skenes<\/a> out of a game against the Rays this season, and Tampa Bay rallied against the Pirates<\/a> bullpen for a 13-inning win. \u201cProbably Skenes coming out of the game, if we\u2019re going to be honest,\u201d Cash said, according to MLB.com\u2018s coverage of that Pittsburgh game<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \n\t\t\tJonathan Vankin<\/a> JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist who covers MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, boxing, golf, and Olympic sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Newspaper and Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering the Olympics, pro baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Why was Rays-Guardians ALCS Game 4 delayed today? Here’s why MLB halted play and when the game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-430000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPlayer
\nPos
\nAVG
\nSLG<\/p>\n
\nSteven Kwan<\/a>
\nLF
\n.282
\n.349<\/p>\n
\nJos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez
\n3B
\n.235
\n.368<\/p>\n
\nChase DeLauter<\/a>
\nRF
\n.287
\n.457<\/p>\n
\nJo Adell<\/a>
\nDH
\n.240
\n.401<\/p>\n
\nNathaniel Lowe<\/a>
\n1B
\n.252
\n.444<\/p>\n
\nTravis Bazzana<\/a>
\n2B
\n.245
\n.408<\/p>\n
\nPatrick Bailey<\/a>
\nC
\n.206
\n.335<\/p>\n
\nPetey Halpin
\nCF
\n.225
\n.326<\/p>\n
\nBrayan Rocchio<\/a>
\nSS
\n.253
\n.391<\/p>\n
\nPlayer
\nPos
\nAVG
\nSLG<\/p>\n
\nYandy D\u00edaz
\nDH
\n.293
\n.446<\/p>\n
\nJonathan Aranda<\/a>
\n1B
\n.274
\n.434<\/p>\n
\nChandler Simpson<\/a>
\nLF
\n.306
\n.356<\/p>\n
\nJunior Caminero<\/a>
\n3B
\n.276
\n.524<\/p>\n
\nLiam Hicks<\/a>
\nC
\n.284
\n.434<\/p>\n
\nV\u00edctor Mesa Jr.
\nRF
\n.260
\n.498<\/p>\n
\nJonny DeLuca<\/a>
\nCF
\n.266
\n.429<\/p>\n
\nRichie Palacios<\/a>
\n2B
\n.235
\n.374<\/p>\n
\nTaylor Walls<\/a>
\nSS
\n.222
\n.298<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/guardians-ALCS-game-3-start-time-moved-weather.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n