NEW YORK — After fans waited 2 1/2 hours in the rain, Major League Baseball decided to postpone the decisive Game 5 of the American League Division Series between Cleveland and New York.
The Yankees took advantage of the circumstances to change their starter. The onus will fall on Nestor Cortes, who will be on short rest against the Guardians.
Cleveland is expected to add Aaron Chivale to the game, which has been tipped to 4:02pm ET on Tuesday.
None of the executives spoke to reporters after the adjournment. Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo confirmed that Aaron Boone informed him via text message that Cortez would replace Jameson Taillon.
The match was scheduled to start at 7:07 PM and was postponed at 9:38 PM.
“I think it was a very easy decision to make when it became clear that it would be better when the game started after 10 p.m.,” said Chris Marinak, MLB’s chief operating officer and chief strategy officer.
The winner, if anything, will get a break as he must travel to Houston to face the Astros in the American League Championship Series on Wednesday starting at 6:37 p.m. (Central Time).
Both teams took batting practice on Monday.
“If the weather is an issue, I don’t want to go past it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said at 4 p.m.
Cleveland outfielder Miles Straw, who clashed with Yankees fans in April, threw a few footballs to fans waiting in stadium seats during the delay, as did backup outfielder Will Brennan.
A center field video board showed a split screen of New York City FC’s 3-0 win over Inter Miami in the MLS playoffs, as well as the New York Rangers’ game against the Anaheim Ducks in the NHL and the NFL game between Denver. Broncos and San Diego Chargers.
It was the second postponement of the series after Game 2 at Yankee Stadium was pushed back a day to Friday.
After losing Game 1 of the series last week, Cleveland won Games 2 and 3, overcoming a two-run deficit in the ninth inning to win 3, 6-5. The Yankees won 4-2 in Cleveland on Sunday night to send the series back to New York.
New York’s bullpen gets a day to rest.