The Astros and Guardians’ season finale was canceled due to rain, meaning Ramírez no longer had a chance to hit his 40th home run

CLEVELAND – The regular-season finale between the Guardians and Houston Astros was canceled Sunday after a long delay, preventing Cleveland third baseman José Ramírez from hitting his 40th home run and joining the exclusive 40-40 club .

With Houston set to open its AL Wild Card Series at home on Tuesday and persistent rain forecast for several more hours, the game never started and was canceled after a 3 hour, 5 minute delay.

The Guardians finish 92-69 and the AL Central champions will host an ALDS game on October 5th. They will play either the AL West champion Astros (88-73) or the Detroit Tigers, who have secured a wild card spot.

Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt and Houston manager Joe Espada met for 15 minutes on the covered field with the umpire team, head groundskeeper and Guardians front office members approximately 2:20 – 55 minutes before the scheduled first pitch.

The enthusiastic fans who remained at Progressive Field during the long delay watched the Browns-Las Vegas Raiders game on Progressive Field’s giant scoreboard.

Ramírez finished the game with 39 home runs, becoming the seventh player in MLB history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season. The six-time All-Star also finished with 39 doubles, one shy of a rare 40-40-40 season that only Alfonso Soriano managed in 2006.

Cleveland’s jump in the standings after winning 76 games in 2023 also led to an increase in attendance, as the Guardians drew more than 2 million fans at home for the first time since 2017.

TRAINER ROOM

Astros: LF Yordan Alvarez (knee sprain) should see more baseball activity in Houston, and as long as he continues to progress, it’s likely he’ll be on the wild card list. The swelling in Alvarez’s knee has gone down and Espada was cautiously optimistic about the bat’s availability this week.

Guardians: RHP Alex Cobb (blister on middle finger) had his usual speed during a simulated 35-pitch game. He will throw another pitch Thursday and Vogt said the team is pursuing plans to use him as a pitcher in the postseason. Cobb has been sidelined since September 1st and has made just three starts since taking over on July 30th.

NEXT

Astros: Host the No. 5 Wild Card seed on Tuesday.

Guardians: Rest and wait for the wildcard winner in ALDS starting October 5th.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

SUNDAY