KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The last two times the Kansas City Royals played a postseason game at home, rain fell after the final out. This time, it started well before the first pitch.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The last two times the Kansas City Royals played a postseason game at home, rain fell after the final out. This time, it started well before the first pitch.
Game 3 of the AL Championship Series between the Royals and Baltimore Orioles was postponed Monday because of steady rain that saturated Kauffman Stadium. The game was rescheduled for Tuesday at 2:07 p.m. HST.
Along with steady rain, wind gusts of 25 mph were buffeting the ballpark. The forecast for Tuesday is cold and windy but dry, with weather improving the rest of the week.
“We want a game we know we can get through nine innings, hopefully play dry baseball, not risk player safety or uncomfortable fans,” Major League Baseball Senior Vice President Peter Woodfork said about 4 hours before the scheduled first pitch.
The Royals, who lead the best-of-seven series 2-0, will keep former Orioles pitcher Jeremy Guthrie on the mound for Game 3. The Orioles will start Wei-Yin Chen, as planned.
After that, rotations become a little murky.
Royals manager Ned Yost said he’ll decide before Tuesday night’s game whether to stick with left-hander Jason Vargas for Game 4 on Wednesday or call for an audible and pitch Game 1 starter James Shields on regular rest. That game is scheduled to start at 10:07 a.m. Hawaii time.
“Guthrie will throw tomorrow, and then we’ll go from there,” Yost said. “Shields can come back or if we feel like we want to give him another day, we can do that, too.”
Orioles manager Buck Showalter was facing a similar conundrum. Miguel Gonzalez was slated to start Game 4, but Chris Tillman could return on regular rest. He opposed Shields when the Royals beat the Orioles in extra innings in the series opener.
“He’s on normal rest, so yeah, he’s an option,” Showalter said. “That’d be five (days), right? But I wouldn’t commit to anything right now other than Chen and see where we are.”
It’s not a slam-dunk decision for Yost and Showalter to go with their aces. Shields and Tillman struggled Friday night, neither lasting past the fifth inning.
“We’re still getting our arms wrapped around it,” Showalter said.
If needed, Game 5 would start at 10:07 a.m. Hawaii time on Thursday. Games 6 and 7 would return to Baltimore and be played Friday and Saturday, as scheduled.
“Our teams are used to play consecutive games in a row,” Woodfork said. “Hopefully it will not have a negative impact on the clubs.”
Rain had been in the forecast for the first two games of the ALCS at Camden Yards, but both games were played without delay. The Royals won the first 8-6 in 10 innings, and Alcides Esocbar’s go-ahead double in the ninth inning boosted them to a 6-4 victory Saturday.
Since the best-of-seven format was adopted in 1985, all 11 teams that have won the first two games of a league championship series on the road reached the World Series.
That doesn’t seem to have put a damper on the Orioles’ confidence.
“We’ve played two close games that have gone their way. We’ve had our chances,” Orioles reliever Andrew Miller said. “We can stop their momentum with a win. They stopped ours. They came in and we hadn’t lost in a while. We’ve got to experience that. Now it’s our turn.”
Cardinals plan to keep Molina active
SAN FRANCISCO — The St. Louis Cardinals plan for now to keep catcher Yadier Molina active on their active roster despite a strained left oblique muscle sustained in Game 2.
Molina flew on the team charter to the Bay Area on Sunday night after leaving Busch Stadium for an MRI exam. After the team arrived at AT&T Park on Monday, Molina met with team doctors and medical staff in the training room of the visitors’ clubhouse.
Manager Mike Matheny was encouraged Molina was able to throw Monday. Matheny carried three catchers and has Tony Cruz and A.J. Pierzynski to fill the big void, if needed.
Diamondbacks hire A’s bench coach Hale
PHOENIX — Former Arizona third base coach Chip Hale was hired Monday to replace Kirk Gibson as the Diamondbacks manager.
The 49-year-old managed in Arizona’s minor league system for six seasons and was with the Diamondbacks from 2007-09 in the first of eight consecutive seasons as a big league third base coach. He spent 2010-11 with the New York Mets and the last three seasons with Oakland under manager Bob Melvin.
Arizona hired Tony La Russa as chief baseball officer in May, and the retired Hall of Fame manager is overhauling the team’s front office. General manager Kevin Towers was fired in September and replaced by former 20-game winner Dave Stewart. De Jon Watson was hired from the Los Angeles Dodgers as senior vice president/baseball operations.
Gibson was fired with three games left in a season in which the Diamondbacks finished a big league-worst 64-98.
Hale emerged from an initial list of nine candidates. He spent parts of seven seasons with Minnesota and the Dodgers during a 12-year playing career. He also played at the University of Arizona and still lives in Tucson.
By wire sources