Monday’s rainout for Game 5 of the ALDS between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians has led to a change in the pitching matchup.
The original pitching matchup for Monday was Jameson Taillon and Aaron Civale. Neither pitcher has previously made a postseason start in his career.
Thanks to the game being postponed until Tuesday, the Game 2 starters each had another day of rest. According to Tom Withers, the Yankees are going with Nestor Cortes in Game 5 on short rest.
Cleveland has not made any announcements about their starter, but they could bring back Game 2 starter Shane Bieber on short rest rather than go with Civale.
Zach Meisel had previously said the Guardians would stick with Civale even if the game were postponed.
Civale has not pitched since Oct. 5.
Bieber has never started on 3 days of rest. Cortes started once on short rest in 2019, and his results were not great. Both Bieber and Cortes allowed two runs in their starts in Game 2, which Cleveland won 4-2 in 10 innings. Taillon took the loss pitching in relief during the game.
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