The forecast said it was going to rain on Monday night in the Bronx. And it did. Who would have thought it?
Not MLB, apparently. The Guardians and Yankees (and fans) schlepped out to Yankee Stadium for Game 5 of the ALDS, stood around, got wet … and then the game was finally postponed. So the do-or-die elimination game will now be played Tuesday at 4:07 p.m. ET, and the winner will then need to immediately fly to Houston for Game 1 of the ALCS against the Astros on Wednesday night.
Think they want that wildly unnecessary off-day between Games 1 and 2 (which was also rained out) back?
MLB made the only decision it could make. You couldn’t start the game and then delay it. And you can’t start a series finale well after 10 p.m. ET and play it in the wee hours of the morning. But there was no reason to drag it out like this. The decision to go to Wednesday should have been made hours ago.
The big question now: How will the schedule change impact the pitching strategies for both teams. Will the Guardians turn to Shane Bieber on short rest? Will the Yankees stick with a Jameson Taillon-led bullpen game? Or could Nestor Cortes demand the ball on short rest as well?
Also worth asking: Can the winning team, whoever it is, get across the finish line and still have something left to avoid falling into an immediate 2-0 series hole against the Astros?
More from ESNY:
• This tweet shows how resilient Giants, Jets have been in 2022
• Jets’ Sauce Gardner won’t let new Cheesehead hat out of his sight
• Mets have no other choice but to be big spenders this winter
• Ranking Mets’ free agents: Jacob deGrom or Edwin Diaz at No. 1?
• Yankees’ Aaron Boone laments how Brett Gardner breakup went down
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
