After approximately 90 minutes of rain delay, Major League Baseball decided to postpone Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees.
The game was tied 1-1 after the top of the second inning. That’s where play will resume on Saturday night at 8:37 p.m. ET. Game 2 of the series has been pushed to Sunday, with first pitch set for 3:07 p.m.
Even if the rain that initially postponed the game had cleared up, reports had a heavier system coming into the area around midnight. At best, three or four innings could’ve been played. After VP of Baseball Operations Joe Torre spoke with the general managers of both teams, the decision was made to postpone the game.
But the matchup between Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia has been wiped out by the rain and it’s likely we’ll now see each pitcher only once in this series. When Game 1 resumes on Saturday at Yankee Stadium, Doug Fister will pitch for the Tigers while Ivan Nova goes for the Yankees.
Max Scherzer will now start Game 2 of the ALDS with Verlander coming back for Game 3. Rick Porcello will pitch Game 4 as scheduled and Fister will pitch Game 5, if necessary.
There were rumblings that Sabathia might return to pitch on Sunday, but that wasn’t the rotation announced by the Yankees. Freddy Garcia will pitch Game 2, with Sabathia coming back on Monday for Game 3. It’s unclear who will start Games 4 and 5 since the Yankees opted for a three-man rotation. A.J. Burnett could start Game 4, with Nova returning for Game 5.
Rain is also in the forecast for Saturday, which would obviously complicate matters. That would create the possibility of a doubleheader to be played on Sunday. More likely would be playing on Thursday, originally scheduled to be an off-day.
UPDATE: MLB has announced that no doubleheaders will be played in the ALDS under any circumstances. As Bud Selig says it is, so shall it be.