Red Sox-Guardians series opener postponed by rain, teams will play split doubleheader Saturday

CLEVELAND (AP) — The series opener between the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Guardians was postponed by rain on Friday, setting up a day-night doubleheader between the clubs on Saturday.

With a light drizzle falling and the tarp covering the infield at Progressive Field, the game was called at 5:05 p.m. — more than two hours before the scheduled first pitch.

The teams will play a split doubleheader on Saturday with the first game starting at 1:10 p.m. The second game is scheduled to begin at 6:10 p.m. Fans will be cleared from the ballpark between games.

Ben Lively (1-2, 3.86 ERA) will start Game 1 for Cleveland against Boston's Tanner Houck (0-2, 7.66). In Game 2, rookie Doug Nikhazy will make his major league debut for the Guardians against Walker Buehler (3-1, 4.23) for the Red Sox.

The opener will be Red Sox manager Alex Cora's 1,000th career game with the franchise. He’ll be the fifth manager in team history to manage 1,000 games, joining Joe Cronin (2,007), Terry Francona (1,296), Pinky Higgins (1,119) and Bill Carrigan (1,003).

“When somebody mentioned 999 yesterday, I thought, oh shoot, that’s a lot," Cora said before Friday's game was washed out. “It’s been good. A lot of ups and downs, not only with the organization as a person but with the suspension.”

Cora won a World Series in his first season as Boston's manager in 2018 before being suspended by Major League Baseball in 2020 for his role in the Houston Astros' cheating scandal. The Red Sox fired him before bringing him back.

“I’ve had some great days, some bad days and some horrible days. But I show up every day. I’ve been very genuine with you guys, very transparent and tell you guys like it is, right?" he said to reporters. "I think that’s what people like and the players like that too.

"A thousand is a lot. I never dreamed of managing in the big leagues for so long. I’ve been managing at the big-league level for a long period of time, but I’ve enjoyed every moment. And to do it with this organization means a lot.”

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