Cleveland turned to Shawn Armstrong to open Game 4 of the AL Championship Series on Friday night, while Tampa Bay lined up Nick Martinez for the other side of the matchup that could tilt the series again. The game was pushed back two hours to 8 p.m. ET, giving the teams a later window for a game that carried a 2-1 Cleveland lead into the night.
That is why searches for where to watch Cleveland Guardians vs Tampa Bay Rays are spiking now: the pitching plans were set for a game with real stakes and a tighter clock. Cleveland can move one win from taking a 3-1 lead, and Tampa Bay needs Martinez to steady a lineup that just watched Petey Halpin’s two-run homer carry Cleveland to a 3-2 win on Thursday afternoon.
Martinez has already handled a postseason assignment against Cleveland and has the numbers to show why Tampa Bay is trusting him again. He started Game 3 of the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees, worked 3⅔ innings, and allowed two runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts. During the regular season, he went 15-6, ranked sixth in the AL with a 3.10 ERA, and ranked third in the AL with 26 starts in which he allowed three runs or fewer.
Cleveland’s choice is different, but it fits the way the club has used Armstrong in October. He has given up only one hit and struck out five in 5⅓ innings this postseason, and he returned during the final week of the regular season after a calf strain in late July. He said the run back into this moment carried a meaning he could hardly put into words, and Cleveland has treated him like a lever, not a traditional starter.
The wrinkle is the weather. Rain was expected in Cleveland most of Friday, and the schedule only left an 8-11 p.m. ET window that could still allow the game to go forward. An ALCS game has not been postponed since 2019, but the forecast kept Friday’s setup from feeling settled even after the pitching plans were made.
So the next step is simple and uneasy at the same time: if the weather opens the window, Cleveland gets Armstrong first and Tampa Bay answers with Martinez; if it does not, the night shifts again. Either way, the matchup is set around two pitchers and one question that the forecast has not answered yet.
