CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Guardians will open Game 4 of the American League Championship Series with a reliever on the mound on Friday night, naming Shawn Armstrong as the opener against the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field.
Armstrong is expected to work only the first inning or two. Cleveland leads the best-of-seven series 2-1 after its Game 3 win, and a victory on Friday would move the Guardians within one win of the World Series.
The opener plan is a change from one Cleveland has used earlier in these playoffs. Daniel Espino had filled that role at times, but he threw a key inning in Game 3, leaving the club to turn elsewhere for the start of Game 4.
Armstrong has earned the assignment with his work out of the bullpen this postseason. In 5 1/3 playoff innings he has allowed just one hit while striking out five, giving Cleveland a steady first look before the game turns over to its longer arms.
Left-hander Joey Cantillo is the name most likely to carry the middle of the game. He is well rested, and Tampa Bay’s lineup was less productive against left-handed pitching during the season, a matchup Cleveland appears ready to test for several innings.
Tampa Bay is set to start Nick Martinez. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m., two hours later than first planned, after Milwaukee finished a sweep of Los Angeles and moved on to await the ALCS winner in the World Series.
Weather is the other variable on Friday. Rain was in the forecast in Cleveland for much of the day, raising questions about the field and the start time, but as of late morning Major League Baseball still planned to play the game as scheduled, with a chance conditions clear enough later in the night to get it in.
Cleveland got to this position on the strength of its Game 3 finish, when Petey Halpin’s go-ahead home run in the fifth inning put the Guardians in front and closer Cade Smith locked down another postseason save. That combination — a timely swing and a bullpen that has been difficult to score on — is the formula the club will lean on again in Game 4.
For fans, the stakes are simple: win, and Cleveland takes a commanding 3-1 lead at home; lose, and the series is tied with momentum back up for grabs heading into the weekend.