Rays-Guardians ALCS Game 3 start time moved up to 1 p.m. ET due to forecast; NLCS Game 4 moving 1 hour earlier

Thursday's Game 3 of the 2026 ALCS between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians has been moved up from a 6 p.m. ET start to 1 p.m. ET, MLB announced.

The game at Progressive Field in Cleveland will see an earlier start due to the rain forecast in the area on Thursday night.

As a result, NLCS Game 4 between the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers in L.A. that same day will be played one hour earlier , as the games no longer project to overlap. The game was initially scheduled for a 9 p.m. ET start but will now start at 8 p.m. ET.

The Guardians and Rays are tied 1-1 in the best-of-seven ALCS series following Tampa Bay's 3-1 win on Tuesday.

In Game 2, Freddy Peralta continued to dominate on the mound for the Rays since being acquired from the New York Mets. The right-hander went six innings, allowed zero runs and struck out six . Over his past eight appearances, he has a 0.81 ERA.

ALCS Game 3, which will air on TBS, HBO MAX and TruTV, will feature Griffin Jax on the mound for the Rays and Gavin Williams likely going for the Guardians.

"It's going to be a challenging place to play," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "We played there not too long ago in the postseason. That's as good an atmosphere as you're going to see. They've got a great fan base that's going to be behind their team.

"I'd like to think we can carry our momentum into there and just play good baseball for Game 3."