Yankees vs. Guardians postponed: ALDS Game 2 moved to Friday over rain forecast

NEW YORK — Game 2 of the ALDS matchup between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians has been postponed due to rain and moved to Friday, MLB announced. First pitch was originally scheduled for 7:37 p.m. ET Thursday night, though the forecast calls for rain most of the day Thursday and continuing into the early morning hours Friday. Instead, Game 2 will now be played Friday at 1:07 p.m. ET (still airing on TBS).

Here is Thursday’s weather forecast around Game 2’s original scheduled start time (via CBS News New York). The heaviest rain is expected to hit New York right around what would’ve been first pitch.

The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies waited out a three-hour rain delay prior to playing Game 2 on Wednesday, though the Yankees and Guardians do not have a similar playable window coming their way Thursday, so the game was postponed.

Friday was originally an ALDS off-day, so rescheduling Game 2 was a piece of cake. However, the postponement does force the two teams to play Games 2-5 on four consecutive days (if Games 4 and 5 are necessary). Friday was the final scheduled off-day in the series. Here’s how the Game 2 postponement impact each team’s pitching plans.

The Yankees won Game 1 behind Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rizzo. They lead the best-of-five series 1-0. Game 2’s scheduled starters are All-Star lefty Nestor Cortes (12-4, 2.44 ERA) and 2020 AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber (13-8, 2.88 ERA).