BOSTON -- The start times for two of this weekend's three Cubs-Red Sox games at Fenway Park have been changed due to the threat of inclement weather. Sunday’s originally scheduled game will now be played on Friday at 1:05 p.m. ET (12:05 p.m. CT) as the first game of a split doubleheader. Friday’s originally scheduled contest will move up to 6:05 p.m. ET.
The Red Sox made the change in consultation with Major League Baseball and the Chicago Cubs due to the forecast of a major nor’easter expected to bring heavy rain, high winds, and potential flooding to the region during the weekend. The new start times are expected to provide the best opportunity to play the final series of the regular season this weekend. Tickets for the originally scheduled games will be good for admission at the newly scheduled times.
With the Cubs, Padres and Phillies heading into Wednesday with identical 87-70 records in the NL Wild Card standings, inclement weather could throw a wrench into the seeding situation. The Cubs can clinch a postseason berth as early as Wednesday night with a win over the Marlins at Wrigley Field or a loss by the D-backs at Colorado.
On the AL side, the Red Sox entered Wednesday holding the American League's second Wild Card spot, trailing the Yankees by an insurmountable six games but holding a three-game lead over the third spot (currently the White Sox). While it’s likely the Red Sox will end up as the No. 5 seed, that is not locked in. The Rangers are on the outside looking in, three games back of the White Sox and six behind Boston.
Saturday’s game, which would complete the abbreviated three-game set, is currently scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET (6:15 CT), but the forecast suggests it might not be possible for a game to be played in Boston that day.
Could a neutral site game be in play for Game No. 162 between the Red Sox and Cubs if the stormy Boston weather doesn’t let up?
Nothing has been ruled out.
“That's being talked about, for sure. Nothing's been said like, ‘That's what's going to happen,’” said Red Sox manager Chad Tracy. “It’s a matter of, does it look like there's going to be a nice lane to play a game at some point [in Boston on Saturday or Sunday]? I don't think we'll know the answer to that for another couple days. Logistically it's a bit of a thing, but I know there's at least conversations around it. I don't know what's going to end up landing.”
“I think there’s still a lot of things on the table, for sure,” added Cubs manager Craig Counsell. “What I know is happening is we’re going to play three games. If weather is an issue, then yeah, we might have to find a place to play a third game. We might have to figure out a place to play more than one game.”
Though Counsell is less than thrilled about a game being moved up and thus impacting his ability to have a rotation member available on regular rest for Saturday, he realizes the entire situation isn’t ideal.
“Look, you’ve got to beat your opponent,” Counsell said. “And you’ve got to beat the circumstances sometimes, too, around everything. That’s part of this journey with your team. And so, it’s just the next one in front of us.”
The Red Sox are using all three starters they will deploy in their upcoming Wild Card in their current matchup with the Guardians. Payton Tolle took the ball Tuesday, followed by Sonny Gray on Wednesday and Ranger Suarez on Thursday. Tracy hasn’t revealed his rotation against the Cubs, but he’s in a much better position to be flexible given his team’s position in the standings.
Matthew Boyd will pitch for Chicago on Thursday’s getaway day against the Marlins. While not official, it appears as though Counsell will likely go with Clay Holmes and David Peterson for Friday’s doubleheader. Saturday is tricky.
Shota Imanaga would be on short rest (he started Tuesday) if he were part of the pitching plans for Saturday. The way things are lined up at the moment, Boyd and Holmes look like they are aligned for Game 1 and Game 2, respectively, in a Wild Card Series.
When similar situations have happened in the past, Major League Baseball has worked with the clubs and MLB Players’ Association to proactively reschedule when feasible. In 2017, for example, a September series between the Rays and Yankees that was supposed to be played at Tropicana Field was preemptively moved to Citi Field as a precaution ahead of Hurricane Irma.
If this weekend's Cubs-Red Sox series were not able to be played in full, the two clubs would make up any missed games on Monday (the day before the start of the Wild Card Series) if the outcome of those games mattered for postseason seeding. This happened two years ago when the Mets and Braves played a doubleheader the day after the scheduled end to the regular season after Hurricane Helene had washed out two previous games. The teams split the doubleheader, allowing both clubs to advance to the postseason while eliminating the D-backs, who watched from home. If the Cubs and Red Sox were to play on Monday, that would cost them their only off-day ahead of the start of their respective Wild Card Series.
Tracy, probably speaking for both teams, would very much like to avoid playing Monday.
“Yeah, I think everybody would want [to avoid] that,” Tracy said. “I would hope that things will fall in a range around whatever it is that we do, that the [Monday] is off leading into the postseason, that would be ideal.”
The Cubs went 6-1 against the Phillies -- with all seven games being played in April -- to claim the tiebreaker over Philadelphia. The North Siders won five of their six matchups against San Diego to pick up the tiebreaker over the Padres as well. Because of this, the Cubs own not only both head-to-head tiebreakers, but also a three-team tiebreaker. The Phillies own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Padres.
The Phillies (second in the Wild Card picture) host the Brewers and Rays over the final five games of their season. The Padres (third in the NL Wild Card race, entering Wednesday) are in Los Angeles for a set against the Dodgers before ending the season at home against the D-backs.
A year ago, Chicago hosted the Padres in the NL Wild Card round at Wrigley Field, won in three games and advanced to the NL Division Series.