Boston and Chicago will open their final regular-season series with a Friday split doubleheader at Fenway Park, a weather-driven move that could carry real October consequences for both clubhouses. With a major nor’easter in the weekend forecast, Sunday’s game has been moved forward to become the 1:05 p.m. ET opener, while Friday night’s originally scheduled matchup will begin at 6:05 p.m. ET.
Key takeaways
- Friday’s Fenway schedule now features games at 1:05 p.m. ET and 6:05 p.m. ET.
- Tickets already issued for the affected games will be accepted at their rescheduled start times.
- Chicago entered Wednesday tied with the Padres and Phillies at 87-70 in the National League Wild Card race.
- The Cubs can secure a postseason berth Wednesday with a win over Miami or an Arizona loss in Colorado.
- Boston held the American League’s second Wild Card position, three games ahead of the White Sox.
- If necessary for playoff seeding, unplayed Cubs-Red Sox games could be made up Monday.
Storm forecast forces an early reshuffle
The Red Sox, Cubs and Major League Baseball adjusted the schedule in hopes of getting all three games played before the regular season closes. Heavy rain, strong winds and possible flooding are expected across the region over the weekend, making Sunday particularly vulnerable.
The revised Friday card turns one of baseball’s most familiar ballparks into a long-day setting: the clubs will meet in the afternoon, then return for the originally planned Friday contest a little more than four hours later. The remainder of the series is intended to stay in place if weather permits.
Baseball has taken similar preventive steps when late-season weather threatened meaningful games. In 2017, a Rays-Yankees September series was shifted from Tropicana Field to Citi Field ahead of Hurricane Irma. The priority in this case is the same: settle the standings on the field rather than leave postseason positioning to a shortened schedule.
Should weather still prevent the full series from being completed, Monday is available for any makeup games that would affect playoff qualification or seeding. That date falls one day before the Wild Card Series begins, meaning either club would lose its only scheduled break before the postseason.
There is recent precedent for that kind of squeeze. Two years ago, the Mets and Braves played a makeup doubleheader after Hurricane Helene wiped out two games. They split those contests, sending both teams into the postseason and leaving Arizona eliminated.
Wild Card pressure follows both clubs to Fenway
Chicago’s path to Boston comes after a home series against the Marlins, with the Cubs carrying a strong tiebreaker position into the final days. The Cubs went 6-1 against Philadelphia during seven April meetings, giving them the season-series edge over the Phillies. They also took five of six from San Diego, which puts the North Siders ahead of the Padres in that matchup.
Those results give Chicago control in the head-to-head tiebreakers against both National League rivals, as well as in a three-club tiebreaker involving the Cubs, Phillies and Padres. Philadelphia owns the season-series advantage against San Diego.
The Phillies, sitting second in the NL Wild Card picture entering Wednesday, finish with five games at home against the Brewers and Rays. San Diego, third at that point, is playing the Dodgers in Los Angeles before returning home for a closing series against Arizona.
Chicago knows the October terrain well. A year ago, the Cubs hosted the Padres at Wrigley Field in the National League Wild Card round, won the series in three games and moved on to the Division Series.
Boston’s concerns are different but no less immediate. The Red Sox began Wednesday in the American League’s second Wild Card slot. They were six games behind the Yankees, a gap that could not be erased, while holding a three-game cushion over the White Sox in the third Wild Card position. The Rangers remained alive on the outside, three games behind Chicago and six back of Boston.
That leaves the Red Sox likely, but not guaranteed, to land the No. 5 seed. For both teams, then, the Fenway weather call is more than a calendar adjustment. It is an attempt to make sure the final weekend decides the brackets before the postseason clock starts.
