Rain moved Friday night’s Game 4 out of the way, but it left Cleveland with a rare kind of Sunday: a Browns-Ravens division showdown at 1 p.m. ET, followed by the Guardians and Rays deciding the American League Championship Series at 5 p.m. ET.
A Cleveland sports sprint from the lakefront to Progressive Field
The Browns, carrying a 3-2 record into their AFC North matchup with the 4-1 Ravens, will take the field at Huntington Bank Field with first place in the division on the line. A little more than a mile away, Progressive Field will be waiting for a Game 5 that sends either Cleveland or Tampa Bay on to the World Series.
For fans willing to make the quick turn after football, the revised postseason schedule offers a packed day rather than a lost night.
- Browns vs. Ravens: 1 p.m. ET at Huntington Bank Field.
- Guardians vs. Rays, ALCS Game 5: 5 p.m. ET at Progressive Field.
- The ALCS is tied 2-2 after Tampa Bay’s 7-3 win on Saturday night.
- Cleveland is chasing the franchise’s seventh World Series appearance.
Rays pull even after Ohio State’s road victory
The sporting weekend had already begun with a major result in Bloomington, Indiana. Ohio State, coached by Ryan Day, knocked off defending national champion Indiana 19-15 in a top-five meeting.
Indiana entered the game riding a 22-game winning streak under Curt Cignetti, but the Buckeyes ended it before the attention of many Ohio fans shifted back north to the ballpark.
Saturday evening brought a tougher result for the home club. The Rays beat the Guardians 7-3 at Progressive Field, leveling the ALCS and setting up Sunday’s winner-take-all game.
A familiar October overlap
Cleveland has seldom seen its football and baseball teams sharing this kind of stage. The franchise has reached the World Series while the Browns owned a .500-or-better record only once before: 1948.
That year, Cleveland defeated the Boston Braves in the World Series, while the Browns opened 6-0. This weekend offers another meaningful intersection, with the Browns in the AFC North race and the Guardians one win from the Fall Classic.
“Hang On Sloopy” carries from campus to the ballpark
There is even a soundtrack linking the weekend’s biggest games. Guardians fans have made “Hang On Sloopy” a between-innings staple, answering the song with an “O-H-I-O” chant. The same refrain is heard at Ohio State home games.
With the Buckeyes already delivering a road win, Cleveland’s Sunday crowd will have two chances to keep the noise going—first on the lakefront, then under the lights downtown.
