Ronald Acuña Jr. slugs 17th home run in win Saturday

Playing winter ball for the first time, the 19-year-old Made homered off Jeremy Rhoades in his first at-bat in Licey’s first game of the season. One of the game’s best prospects, Made hit .271/.344/.430 with 14 homers and 37 steals in Double-A this year. The Brewers moved him around some to second and third in his first two years in the system, but he was strictly a shortstop this season.

Bernal, whose impressive late-season audition should make him a strong candidate for the Cardinals’ 2027 roster, struck out in his other three at-bats. The homer was a 106-mph rocket that knocked Aaron Brooks out of the game in the fourth.

The Gigantes opened the season with Reds outfielders batting first and second; Jorge was in center field and Noelvi Marte went 1-for-3 with a steal as the team’s right fielder. One imagines the Reds will bring in at least one starting outfielder this winter, but that’d still leave plenty of room for JJ Bleday, Dane Myers, Héctor Rodríguez, Blake Dunn, Jorge and Marte to battle things out. That said, it’d be no surprise if Marte is moved.

We’d pretty much given up on ever hearing from Mondesi again, but he took the field in a game last night for the first time since Apr. 26, 2022, when he blew out his knee. The Red Sox acquired him from the Royals the following winter, thinking that he’d recover and compete to be their starting shortstop, but he couldn’t get over the hump and was released after the 2023 season. He’d been rarely discussed since. Mondesi is 31 now and a return to the majors is probably a long shot, but maybe he’ll get a minor league deal if he plays well this winter.

The Rays had an opportunity to change things up if they wanted to after Friday’s rain out, but they’ll stick with Martinez as they look to even up the series at two games apiece on Saturday. The Guardians will stick with their plan as well, giving the ball to Shawn Armstrong as an opener.

Major League Baseball tried to wait this one out, but the forecast wasn’t improving and the outlook looked too bleak to push it any longer. Game 4 will now be played on Saturday at 8:00 PM EST, while Game 5 will be on Sunday afternoon at 5:00 PM EST. Expect Friday’s scheduled starters — Nick Martinez for the Rays and Shawn Armstrong (as an opener) for the Guardians — to get the ball on Saturday.

The two teams remain in contact with Major League Baseball and are hopeful that they’ll be able to get the game in. Otherwise, it could lead to major changes to the rest of the postseason schedule. It sounds like they’ll do everything possible to play baseball on Friday night, just anticipate a long and rain-soaked evening at the most critical time of the season.

The Rays will utilize the same starting nine that they used in Thursday’s loss in Game 3, but the batting order has changed. Simpson moves up from fifth to third while Junior Caminero slides into the cleanup spot. Here’s the full lineup that the Rays will deploy against Shawn Armstrong and a host of Guardians’ relievers: Yandy Diaz (DH), Jonathan Aranda (1B), Simpson (LF), Junior Caminero (3B), Liam Hicks (C), Victor Mesa Jr. (RF), Jonny DeLuca (CF), Richie Palacios (2B) and Taylor Walls (SS).

Even though the Guardians only scored three runs in the contest, the Guardians feel like that’s the best possible lineup that they are able to put on the field against an opposing right-hander, so there’s no need to change anything up. Game 3 hero Petey Halpin will start in center field and bat eighth. Here’s the full lineup that they’ll deploy against Rays’ right-hander Nick Martinez as they look to take a commanding 3-1 advantage in the series: Steven Kwan (LF), Jose Ramírez (3B), Chase DeLauter (RF), Jo Adell (DH), Nathaniel Lowe (1B), Travis Bazzana (2B), Patrick Bailey (C), Petey Halpin (CF) and Brayan Rocchio (SS).

Maldonado retired from MLB after the 2025 season, though he did play for Puerto Rico in the WBC this spring, and took a job as a special assistant with the Braves. Now he’ll be back on the field with the Tigers and working with A.J. Hinch, who was briefly his manager in Houston.