NEW YORK — Due to off days and weather, the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians are engaged in a lengthy postseason series.
The American League Division Series was extended another day when the forecast of heavy rain forced a postponement of Game 5 on Monday.
After a delay of more than two hours, the game was postponed and moved to Tuesday at 4:07 p.m. EDT when shadows at Yankee Stadium will likely impact hitters.
The series is tied at two games apiece after the Yankees recorded a 4-2 win Sunday in Game 4 at Cleveland. The winner will advance to play the Astros in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series on Wednesday in Houston.
The Yankees opened the series with a 4-1 victory on Oct. 11. The teams had an off day Wednesday, when they worked out in the New York sunshine, and Game 2 was postponed roughly six hours before the scheduled first pitch on Thursday due to heavy rains.
The first rainout cost the teams the traditional travel day in between Games 2 and 3.
On Monday, it was partly cloudy with little wind as representatives from both teams met with MLB officials twice.
The first meeting took place after New York manager Aaron Boone spoke pregame and before Cleveland manager Terry Francona gave his pregame press conference. The second meeting took place roughly an hour before the scheduled first pitch.
“Everybody was on the same page when we spoke, that as long as we can play the game and not have it look like it’s going to get interrupted and have that force a little bit of an outcome, we’d like to play,” Francona said Monday afternoon.
Approximately 40 minutes before the scheduled first pitch, the Yankees announced the start was being delayed by rain and the conditions would be assessed at 7 p.m. The announcement was made after a weather report to fans provided by local news radio station 1010 WINS was described as “complicated.”
At 6:36 p.m., the grounds crew began rolling out the tarp in anticipation of the looming forecast. At approximately 7:15 p.m., Guardians outfielders Myles Straw and Will Brennan began tossing a football in front of the Cleveland dugout.
At 7:27 p.m., heavy rain arrived as many fans headed to the concourses behind seating areas.
Jameson Taillon was scheduled to pitch Monday for the Yankees against Cleveland’s Aaron Civale in what likely would have been a bullpen game.
It is possible Game 2 starters Nestor Cortes and Shane Bieber could return on three days’ rest for the third winner-take-all game in the ALDS between the teams, who split a pair of fifth games in 1997 and 2017.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media