Rain Out Could Impact ALCS Outcome

Monday night, the ALCS Game 3 between the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals was rained out because of nearly 12 hours of rain in a row. The MLB made the decision to call the game early in the afternoon to make sure that the fans were not inconvenienced by already being at the ballpark and needing to leave due to a cancelled game. Game 3 will be played on Tuesday at 8:07 p.m. EST and Game 4 will take place on Wednesday.

Will the rain out impact the momentum of the Royals? They have won six straight playoff games and now have to go two days without playing. Can they continue to come out on top with the right winning formula?

The Orioles have the opportunity to capitalize on the extra time to rest, recover from two home losses and come up with strategy to win on the road in Kansas City. It is definitely no easy task but if the Orioles can hope that the weather slows down the Royals enough from playing dominantly in the rest of the series.

The rain out will give the managers the option to alter the order of their pitchers and ultimately have an impact on which pitchers will play on Wednesday in Game 4 and then who would be pitching in Game 7 if the series happens to get that far.

Ned Yost, manager of the Royals, said that he will decide on Tuesday before Game 3 if he will put in pitcher Jason Varga for game four or bring back the pitcher from Game 1, starter James Shields.

Orioles manager, Buck Showalter, is also facing a similar situation with Chris Tillman being able to return from regular rest potentially being the started over Miguel Gonzalez in Game 4.

Probable starters for Game 3 are Wei-Yin Chen for the Orioles  and Jeremy Guthrie for Kansas City.