Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) - Game three of baseball’s American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays will start five hours earlier than originally scheduled on Thursday because of rain forecast in Cleveland.
The contest will start at 1pm local time (1700 GMT), Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday, when the Guardians and Rays had a day off after splitting the first two games of the best-of-seven series in Florida.
“The change, which is based on forecasted rain on Thursday night in Cleveland, is being made proactively in order to remain on schedule in the ALCS,” MLB said in a statement.
The Guardians and Rays are scheduled to play games three, four and five at Cleveland’s Progressive Field on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
They would return to Tropicana Field for games six and seven if necessary.
Tampa Bay, the top seeds in the American League, bounced back to level the series with a 3-1 victory on Tuesday.
A day earlier, the Guardians rallied to beat the Rays 7-3.
The winner of the series will take on either the Los Angeles Dodgers or Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series.
The Brewers took a 2-0 lead into game three of the National League Championship Series in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.
Game four of the NLCS in Los Angeles on Thursday has been brought forward by an hour, to 5pm (0000 GMT).