Game one of American League Championship Series opens as scheduled
The Royals' and Orioles' optimism that game one of the American League Championship Series would be played as scheduled Friday night was not misguided.
First pitch was at 7:11 p.m.
Both Royals manager Ned Yost and Orioles manager Buck Showalter were asked before the game if they’d rather play three hours in a light rain rather than the alternative — a rainout that would scrap Sunday’s off day and force the teams to play five games in five days.
“Yes,” Showalter said, before adding, “right now it looks like we got a shot at starting on time and playing.”
Yost agreed.
“I’d prefer to play in the rain tonight,” he said. “We’re ready for this. We’ve had four days off. The rain doesn’t scare us.”
But intermittent drizzle fell throughout the afternoon, and precipitation remains in the forecast not only for the 7:07 Central time first pitch but also for Saturday through noon. Game two is set to start at 3:07 p.m.
Light drizzle now, but they could play through this pic.twitter.com/UvGzF2NmYT
— Chris Fickett (@ChrisFickett) October 10, 2014
The tarp was taken off and on the field by the Orioles grounds crew throughout the afternoon. Batting practice for both teams was canceled, and the tarp covered the field about an hour and a half before gametime even though no rain was falling at the moment.
With less than an hour before first pitch, the tarp was pulled to cheers at Camden Yards, and players were stretching in the outfiled as the grounds crew prepared the infield and painted lines.
The Weather Channel has forecast “occasional rain” this afternoon with half an inch “likely” by the end of the evening. Its forecast calls for a 50 percent chance of rain at first pitch, increasing to 80 percent and heavier rain four hours later.
There is an off day Sunday as the series moves to Kansas City for games three through five, and it could be used to play a game if there is a rainout.
According to The Baltimore Sun, in the case of a rain out, tickets to Friday’s game would be honored Saturday, and tickets for the game originally scheduled for Saturday would be honored for the rescheduled game two.
This story was originally published October 10, 2014 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Game one of American League Championship Series opens as scheduled."