The two playoff contenders will now play a doubleheader on Friday to avoid Sunday’s storm

            Mike Axisa

Sep 23, 2026

at

5:21 pm ET

•

1 min read

MLB has ceded to Mother Nature and shifted this weekend’s Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago Cubs series at Fenway Park with a nor’easter threatening to drench New England in the coming days. Sunday’s originally scheduled game will move to Friday at 1:05 p.m. as the first game of a split doubleheader. Friday’s originally scheduled contest will move up to 6:05 p.m., and Saturday will play as scheduled.

In all likelihood, this series will not have much bearing on the various postseason races. The Red Sox have already clinched a postseason berth and are just jockeying for wild-card seeding. The Cubs will clinch a postseason berth with their next win or the next Arizona Diamondbacks loss, then it’s just a matter of seeding.

But, if the Cubs in particular are unable to take care of business during the week, that final series in Boston will be important, and the league is trying to avoid any washouts. Here is the upcoming forecast for Boston, via CBS Boston:

CBS Boston

Any forced makeups would have to be played at Fenway Park on Monday, the day after the final day of the regular season, which would be a nightmare scenario for both teams. The Red Sox are locked in as a wild-card team and the Cubs will be as soon as they clinch. They would have to play their makeup game(s) on Monday, travel that night, then play Game 1 of the Wild Card Series the very next day.

This happened as recently as 2024. Hurricane Helene postponed two Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets games at Truist Park, and since there were two wild-card spots on the line, the games had to be made up with a doubleheader in Atlanta on the Monday after the final day of the regular season. In the span of nine days, the Mets went from New York to Atlanta to Milwaukee then back to Atlanta for the doubleheader and then back to Milwaukee for the Wild Card Series.