CLEVELAND -- The Guardians and Red Sox were expected to be in the national spotlight Friday night on Apple TV+. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.
The opener of the weekend set between Cleveland and Boston at Progressive Field was postponed by rain. The clubs will instead play a split doubleheader Saturday, with first pitch for Game 1 set for 1:10 p.m. ET and the nightcap at 6:10 p.m.
With the change to the schedule, left-hander Doug Nikhazy, Cleveland¡¯s No. 21 prospect per MLB Pipeline, will be promoted from Triple-A Columbus and slotted into the Guardians¡¯ rotation to make the start in the second game. It will be the MLB debut for Nikhazy, a second-round selection out of Ole Miss in the 2021 Draft who was 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings over four starts at Columbus this year.
Right-hander Ben Lively will oppose Sox right-hander Tanner Houck in the first game, as previously planned. Nikhazy will pitch opposite Boston right-hander Walker Buehler in the second.
Gates for the makeup game will open at noon ET, while gates for the original April 26 game open at 5 p.m. ET. Fans will be cleared from the ballpark between games.
With Apple TV+ no longer carrying the first game, it will instead be carried by the local providers -- CLEGuardians.TV and NESN, both of whom were already scheduled to broadcast the second game of the series.
Additionally, because of the Cleveland Cavaliers¡¯ NBA playoff game, the first game will be carried on Cleveland radio only by WTAM 1100, with the second game on both WTAM 1100 and WMMS 100.7 FM.
Fans holding tickets dated April 25 can use their exact same ticket to enter the 1:10 p.m. game and do not have to exchange (they will not be able to attend the night game unless they hold a ticket for that game, as well). If fans are unable to attend the makeup game, they will be able to make an exchange. Exchanges cannot be made in the Ballpark app.
Fans who purchased Theme Night tickets (Youngstown State University or Grad Party Night), or utilized a complimentary ticket offer (Sept. 29 rainout offer or Guardians TV offer) will receive a separate email with exchange instructions.
All exchange details can be found at CLEGuardians.com/ScheduleChanges.