Tigers-Yankees ALCS Game 4 rained out with no rain: Griffin

DETROIT-Scheduled Game Four of the American League Championship Series between the Yankees and Tigers, set to have been played on Wednesday at Comerica Park has been postponed and re-scheduled for 4:07 p.m. on Thursday.

If a Game 5 is necessary, that is if the Yankees win to keep the series alive, it will be played Friday, originally a travel day to New York.

The game was officially called at 9:15 p.m. Eastern Time, following a delay of an hour and eight minutes. Fans booed the decision because there had been no rain for the first hour of the delay. The announced threat of heavy rains with the Doppler weather map being carried live and threateningly on the scoreboard seemed to be questioned by fans as the field was left uncovered until 10 minutes before the rainout. Then the grounds crew leisurely covered the mound and the infield. A light sprinkle started to fall, but stopped as the decision to postpone the game was announced by Major League Baseball.

"Based on the forecast for inclement weather for the remainder of the evening...in an effort to preserve the integrity of an uninterrupted full nine-inning game," is some of the key wording of the press release by MLB.

The rules of postponement had been changed in 2008 after severe rainout and rain delay problems in the series between the Rays and the Philies in Philadelphia. Now it states if a game is incomplete and suspended after five innings, after it is official, the game shall be played to its conclusion prior to the next scheduled game of the series.

With heavy rain expected later on Wednesday, MLB did not want to get into a situation like that, especially with the possibility the Yankees could be eliminated in Game 4. The issue, the big concern is they could have had a full house of fans waiting to see a Game 5 after the conclusion of Game 4 and if the Tigers had won, they would have all been asked to leave. It would have been a logistical nightmare for baseball refunding tickets et al.

The Yankees had their ace lefthander CC Sabathia scheduled to pitch, while the Tigers have righthander Max Scherzer. Both men are expected to get the call again on Thursday.

The Tigers lead the series three games to none, with a chance to close the Yankees out by winning one of the next two games. Neither Alex Rodriguez nor Curtis Granderson was in the lineup for the Yankees for Game Four as they faced elimination.