Rays vs. Guardians Game 4 Best Player Props Betting Picks

Major League Baseball essentially emulated a radio broadcaster calling a foul ball on a payoff pitch upon postponing Game 4 of the American League Championship Series to Saturday from Friday.

“We’ll do it again.”

Persistent rain prompted the decision but there wasn't pouting among the host Cleveland Guardians or visiting Tampa Bay Rays.

“This is baseball. This is Cleveland,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “We’re more than used to these kinds of days.”

With that, these are our best bets for a rescheduled ALCS Game 4, with the Guardians leading the series 2-1. Odds are via FanDuel.

Rays left fielder Chandler Simpson batted .306 with a .333 on-base percentage during the regular season. Those figures both have dropped to .200 through 15 postseason at-bats.

Simpson continues to emerge lately, however, delivering a two-run triple in Thursday’s narrow Game 3 defeat after notching his first hit of the ALCS in Game 2 on Tuesday.

It was enough for Rays manager Kevin Cash to vault Simpson to the No. 3 spot in the order Friday before the rainout. With pitching matchups remaining the same -- Rays right-hander Nick Martinez against Guardians righty Shawn Armstrong to kick off a bullpen game -- expect a rested Simpson to keep clicking within a confident lineup.

When times get tough,” Simpson said, “we don't really need to play hero ball. It doesn't matter who it is. We trust that 1 through 9, anybody in the lineup can come up with a big hit, a timely hit, throughout the game. So just really just be relying on each other.”

Chandler Simpson 2+ total bases (+125)

Cash might have bumped Drew Rasmussen up in the rotation to start Game 4 but stuck with Martinez, who was dominant against Cleveland in winning two regular-season starts.

Martinez logged 13 scoreless innings over that span with seven hits, one walk and nine strikeouts. He also pitched to a 2.38 ERA on the road. An April 28 appearance at Progressive Field appearance helped kickstart that trend, as Martinez fanned four over seven innings.

Cleveland batters have struck out at least eight times in each of the first three games of the series, and Martinez appears should be primed to keep that going.

Nick Martinez 3+ strikeouts (+126)

Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez has compiled multiple memorable moments since Game 3 of the Division Series against the Chicago White Sox and might figure to be a pick to click here. He’s just 1-for-11 in his career against Martinez, though, albeit with only one strikeout.

The guy one spot ahead of Ramirez in the lineup fares better against Martinez; leadoff man Steven Kwan has two doubles among his three hits versus the righty.

Kwan went 0-for-4 in Game 3 to stop a six-game postseason hitting streak but is putting the ball in play, striking out just four times in 33 at-bats in the playoffs.

Steven Kwan to record a hit (-240)