The Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians were already forced into a doubleheader on Friday to kick off a four-game set at Progressive Field this weekend because of a rain-out earlier this summer. And now weather is once again threatening things as Cleveland looks to hold on to the third and final AL Wild Card spot.
Keider Montero and Logan T. Allen were set to square off in Game 1 on Friday afternoon, but Mother Nature apparently had other ideas. The good news is that the Guardians were able to get out ahead of things, announcing a delayed start time a full hour before the 2:10 p.m. ET scheduled first pitch. But the bad news is that the day half of this day-night doubleheader is already in flux, throwing the rest of the weekend's schedule into chaos.
When will the Tigers-Guardians game start on Friday?
Today's first pitch will be at 3:15 p.m.#GuardsBall
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 4, 2026
About an hour or so after the initial rain delay announcement, Cleveland posted to social media that Game 1 on Friday would begin at around 3:15 p.m. ET — a delay of a little over an hour. Montero will get the ball for Detroit against Cleveland's Allen, with Andrew Sears and Foster Griffin slated to pitch the nightcap.
Both teams are hoping that play can begin promptly, allowing for the day's doubleheader to proceed more or less as scheduled. Unfortunately, the weather forecast might have other ideas.
Progressive Field forecast: How much more rain is expected?
The rain that forced the delay in the first place will indeed have passed through the Cleveland area at around 3 p.m. ET or so. But there is more rain behind it that might disrupt play later on Friday depending on which way the wind blows.
Hour (ET) | Chance of precipitation |
|---|---|
3 p.m. | 84% |
4 p.m. | 77% |
5 p.m. | 40% |
6 p.m. | 34% |
You can understand why Cleveland felt willing to try and take the risk to begin this game as early as possible. Neither team wants to deal with further disorder to their pitching schedules, especially with the Guardians fighting tooth and nail for a playoff spot. Postponing this game again should be a last resort.
Then again, they might wind up not having a choice. There's more rain that might hit Northeast Ohio later on Friday afternoon, which could force another delay — and, potentially, make it difficult to complete two games. They could always bump the doubleheader to Saturday or Sunday and simply play a night game on Friday, but hopefully the weather will cooperate for once.
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