ALCS Game 4 postponed due to rain; Rays and Guardians will resume the series on Saturday

CLEVELAND (AP) — Game 4 of the American League Championship Series was postponed due to rain Friday night.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians will resume their series Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, with Game 5 on Sunday at Progressive Field and Game 6 in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Monday if necessary.

The Guardians have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after Petey Halpin’s two-run homer propelled them to a 3-2 victory in Game 3 Thursday afternoon.

This is the first time an ALCS game has been postponed since 2019, when the New York Yankees hosted the Houston Astros.

Cleveland had scheduled a bullpen game Friday, with Shawn Armstrong opening. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt could change plans and join Foster Griffin on Saturday. The left-hander started Game 1 Monday and allowed two runs in five innings.

Tampa Bay had to go for Nick Martinez.

Teams could play the final four games without a day off, culminating with a potential Game 7 on Tuesday. That could be good news for the Milwaukee Brewers, who have a bye week before opening the World Series at home on Oct. 23 against the winner of Cleveland-Tampa Bay.

Milwaukee is in the Fall Classic for the first time since 1982 after sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series on Thursday night.