Red Sox manager John Farrell said that the team "noted their objection" to the uncertainty of yesterday's ALDS Game 4 start time with MLB, according to Peter Abraham of the BOSTON GLOBE. Red Sox President & CEO Sam Kennedy said that he told MLB COO Tony Petitti that it was "hard on the two teams and the fans." But that was "as far as it went." The Red Sox "announced an attendance of 37,305, a sellout" for the game against the Astros, but Fenway Park was "no better than half full at first pitch." The rainy weather "clearly kept many fans away," but another factor was the "start time not being announced" until 11:00pm ET on Sunday. MLB’s TV partners would "not commit to a slot for the Astros-Red Sox game until it was determined whether the Indians and Yankees would play a fourth game in their series." Had the Yankees "been eliminated on Sunday," the Red Sox and Astros "would have played" at 7:08pm. When the Yankees beat the Indians, the Red Sox were given a 1:08pm start (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/10). In DC, Chelsea Janes notes "about an hour after" the Nationals left the clubhouse following NLDS Game 3 against the Cubs, MLB last night "officially announced" today's Game 4 at Wrigley Field will begin at 5:38pm. The announcement spared both teams a "night of waiting." Originally, "the plan depended" on the outcome of Game 3 of the Dodgers-D-backs NLDS. Nationals-Cubs would have started at 8:00pm "if the Dodgers beat" the D-backs and Nationals-Cubs was the "only game" on today's MLB schedule. But if the Dodgers and D-backs "required a Game 4, that game would be the late game" today, with Nationals-Cubs starting at 5:38pm. However, Dodgers-D-backs "did not start until" 10:00pm ET. So, the Nationals and Cubs "originally would not know their scheduling fate until midnight or later" last night (WASHINGTON POST, 10/10).
