Happy Game 2 day, for real this time

Mother nature did its thing and now the Guardians are playing another afternoon playoff game. Following reports of bad weather in the New York City area last night, officials decided to push the game ahead a day. It’s the right decision if it means starting pitchers don’t have to start and stop, but it also means that the Guardians and Yankees are playing four days in a row to end the series.

Cleveland Guardians news

How rainout impacts Guardians’ pitching plan | MLB
Nothing much changes this afternoon — it’s still Shane Bieber vs. Nestor Cortes — but bullpen depth may play a bigger part with four straight days of baseball (at most) ahead. One interesting, if unsurprising, confirmation from Terry Francona yesterday was that Bieber was unlikely to start Game 5 on short rest even if Game 2 went as planned yesterday.

“I think the way I worded it the other day was like if he had gone maybe two innings because of rain or something [then he could come back on Monday],” Francona said. “You don’t ever want to just say no. But I think [pitching coach Carl Willis] and I both, our thoughts were that we weren’t leaning towards that as being an option we really wanted to do just because of what [Bieber’s] been through and everything.

So it probably wasn’t happening before the delay, but now it’s definitely not happening as there are only two days between Games 2 and 5.

Cleveland Guardians vs. New York Yankees: Tom Hamilton addresses ‘historical’ season | WKYC
Tom Hamilton has called a lot of great baseball teams in Cleveland, but this 2022 season is one of the most special.

Guardians offer a different way for Terry Francona to challenge Yankees | NY Post
Terry Francona and the Yankees have a history that goes beyond his time in Cleveland.

Payroll Aside, Cleveland Has No Shortage of Leadership | NY Times
New York media sure loves writing about Terry Francona.

Around the league

• The Mariners fell to 0-2 in the ALDS.
• Yordan Álvarez is a monster.
• Future Guardian Carlos Correa plans to opt out of his contract with the Twins.
• Adam Wainwright gave a candid look at his late-season struggles.
• Ian Happ had a breakout season in 2022.