The New York Yankees moved Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Baltimore Orioles up to 1:05 p.m., racing a nor’easter already soaking the Bronx.
Weather has now rewritten this series twice in three days, leaving the Yankees searching for a dry window just three days before they host a wild-card series opener.
“In coordination with Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees have announced that the start time of tomorrow’s Yankees-Orioles game (Sunday, September 27) has been moved to 1:05 p.m. due to the current forecast of inclement weather throughout the late afternoon,” the team said in a post announcing the move of first pitch up from its original afternoon slot.
Yankee Stadium gates open to fans with valid tickets at noon, an hour before first pitch, according to the announcement.
Sunday’s game had been penciled in for 3:20 p.m. ET, but the club and MLB bumped it earlier as forecasters call for rain and wind to intensify through the late afternoon and into the night.
Saturday’s game against Baltimore was scrapped entirely and folded into a single-admission doubleheader on Friday, according to MLB.com, with the first game starting at 4:05 p.m. and the second no earlier than 7:05 p.m.
CC Sabathia’s No. 52 retirement ceremony and Monument Park plaque unveiling, originally planned for Saturday, shifted to Friday’s doubleheader as well.
The Orioles took the opener, 10-2, before New York answered with a 6-3 win in the nightcap, splitting the makeup twin bill.
Yankees’ Weather Update Moves First Pitch
Sunday’s game is Game 162, and for New York the outcome changes almost nothing. The Yankees enter at 93-68, second in the American League East, and had already clinched a wild-card berth with home-field advantage for a series that opens Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.
Baltimore, at 79-82, was eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago.
Individual numbers still carry interest. Pete Alonso pushed his home run total to 43 with a pair in Friday’s opener, taking the American League lead, and sits near the top of the league in RBIs as well.
Orioles right-hander Shane Baz and Yankees right-hander Elmer Rodríguez are Sunday’s officially listed probable starters, though some schedules had not yet been updated to the new 1:05 p.m. time when the change was announced.
Yankees Enter a Finale With Little Meaning
The Bronx forecast leaves little room for optimism. The National Weather Service forecast calls for showers with wind gusts reaching 39 mph Sunday afternoon, a 90 percent chance of precipitation and as much as three-quarters of an inch of additional rain.
Sunday night brings a 100 percent chance of rain, according to the agency, with the wet pattern not clearing until sometime Monday afternoon.
Saturday was already raw and windy in the Bronx, part of a stretch that has disrupted air travel around New York and forced other East Coast clubs to juggle their own season-ending schedules.
No makeup date has been set if Sunday washes out entirely. Monday, Sept. 28, is the only open day before Tuesday’s wild-card opener, and MLB has historically reserved that day for games that still affect the postseason picture, according to MLB.com‘s Jordan Bastian.
Since the outcome affects neither club’s playoff position, canceling Sunday’s game permanently remains a real possibility if the weather never allows for an official contest — an outcome that would also hand the Yankees extra rest before Tuesday’s series opener. For now, the plan is to play at 1:05 p.m. and let the nor’easter decide the rest.
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