MLB just bowed to Mother Nature, shifting the Boston Red Sox versus Chicago Cubs series at Fenway Park thanks to a nasty nor’easter threatening to drench New England. This isn’t just a simple rain delay, folks; it is a major shake-up that could bring back a truly brutal postseason travel nightmare scenario nobody wants to see.
Doubleheader Chaos Hits Fenway
The league is trying hard to avoid total washouts, especially with both teams in the thick of the wild-card picture. Sunday’s originally scheduled game is now slotted for Friday at 1:05 p.m. ET, kicking off a split doubleheader. Friday’s original contest got pushed to 6:05 p.m., and Saturday’s game is still on as planned. On the surface, it looks like a quick fix to get the games in, but for two teams battling for postseason positioning, this kind of disruption late in the season adds a whole new layer of stress. Can you imagine prepping for a doubleheader when you are just days away from potentially starting a playoff series? It is a grind, plain and simple.
Why This Weather Headache Matters for the Playoff Push
Look, the Red Sox have already clinched a postseason berth. For them, it is mainly about jockeying for the best wild-card seeding possible. The Cubs are right there too, able to clinch their own postseason spot with their next win or the next Arizona Diamondbacks loss. After that, it is all about seeding for them as well. While the source notes this series likely will not have *much* bearing on the overall races, it also makes it clear that if the Cubs, in particular, cannot take care of business during the week, then this final series in Boston suddenly becomes super important. The league is doing everything it can to avoid any forced makeups, and for good reason.
That’s because the real headache, the true nightmare scenario, comes if these teams *do* need a makeup game. Imagine this: a forced makeup game would have to happen at Fenway Park on Monday. That’s the day *after* the final day of the regular season, folks. So, you play Monday, hop on a plane that very night, and then you have to play Game 1 of the Wild Card Series the very next day. Talk about hitting the ground running for the most important games of the year! We actually saw this madness as recently as 2024. Hurricane Helene postponed two Atlanta Braves versus New York Mets games, and since there were two wild-card spots on the line, those had to be made up with a doubleheader in Atlanta on the Monday after the season’s end. The Mets had a grueling nine-day stretch where they went from New York to Atlanta to Milwaukee, then back to Atlanta for the doubleheader, and then *back to Milwaukee* for the Wild Card Series. That’s an absolutely brutal way to start your postseason.
What’s Next for Boston and Chicago
So, the Red Sox and Cubs have their hands full with this new doubleheader on Friday and then Saturday’s game. But every fan of a Wild Card contender across the league has to be watching that Boston forecast and crossing their fingers that no more games get washed out. Nobody wants to see that brutal Monday makeup game scenario play out again, especially when you are trying to make a deep run into October. This late in the season, every pitch, every flight, and every minute counts. Let’s hope they get these games in clean and avoid the travel chaos that could completely derail a postseason dream.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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