Guardians Host Rays in ALCS Game 3 at 1 p.m. ET After Schedule Change

CLEVELAND — The American League Championship Series shifts to Progressive Field on Wednesday with the Guardians and Rays deadlocked at one game apiece and first pitch moved up five hours because of a forecast calling for steady rain and temperatures in the low 50s.

Major League Baseball announced the schedule change Tuesday afternoon, pushing Game 3 from its original 6 p.m. ET start to 1 p.m. The decision gives both clubs a rare daytime postseason window and forces adjustments to bullpen plans built around a night game.

Cleveland will hand the ball to right-hander Gavin Williams, whose October has already entered franchise lore. The 25-year-old tied Charles Nagy’s 1996 single-game postseason strikeout record with 12 against the Chicago White Sox in Game 5 of the ALDS, a performance that clinched the division series on Oct. 10. Williams has appeared in three of Cleveland’s five ALDS games — starting Games 3 and 5 and throwing one inning of relief in Game 4 — raising questions about his recovery time on standard rest.

Tampa Bay counters with Griffin Jax, a converted reliever who found his footing in a hybrid starting role down the stretch. The 28-year-old posted a 3.05 ERA across five September starts spanning 20 2/3 innings after carrying a 3.53 ERA over 23 starts and 34 total appearances in the regular season. Jax’s unconventional usage — he rarely exceeds five innings — means the Rays’ deep bullpen will likely be engaged early.

The series arrives in Ohio after a taut Game 2 at Tropicana Field on Monday. Freddy Peralta held Cleveland scoreless through six innings, and the only run the Guardians managed came on a solo home run in the seventh. The decisive sequence arrived in the fourth: with two outs and runners at the corners, third baseman José Ramírez let a routine grounder from Ben Williamson skip through his legs, allowing the tying run to score. Catcher Liam Hicks followed with a two-run single that accounted for all of Tampa Bay’s offense in a 3-1 victory.

Ramírez, a three-time All-Star and perennial Gold Glove candidate, had committed just nine errors in 1,158 regular-season innings at third base this year. The miscue snapped a 42-game errorless streak at the position dating to August.

Cleveland’s offense, which exploded for seven runs in the Game 1 win, has managed only five hits in the 16 innings since. Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor, the club’s top two on-base producers in the regular season, are a combined 2-for-15 with six strikeouts in the series.

The Guardians are seeking their first World Series berth since 2016 and first championship since 1948. Tampa Bay, which eliminated the Houston Astros in the ALDS, is chasing a third pennant in 18 seasons after falling short in 2008 and 2020.

Game 4 remains scheduled for 6 p.m. ET Thursday at Progressive Field, with both clubs listing their starters as TBA. TBS and truTV will carry the telecast, with streaming available on Max and Fubo.