The final game of this weekend's Chicago Cubs-Boston Red Sox series has been moved from Fenway Park to Tropicana Field due to a storm that's projected to hit Boston on Sunday.
The teams will play Game 162 under the Trop's roof in St. Petersburg on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ET - the same time it was originally supposed to start in Boston. All games on the final day of the season are starting at the same time.
The Red Sox already moved Saturday's game up one day because of the impending nor'easter. Both teams will fly to Tampa immediately after the conclusion of Friday's doubleheader "to ensure the safety of both traveling parties," MLB said in a statement obtained by MassLive's Chris Cotillo.
This will be the first weather-related neutral-site game since 2017, when hurricanes forced the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays to each relocate multiple home games, according to Retrosheet.
Boston is locked into the AL's No. 5 seed and will play the Yankees in New York on Tuesday in its wild-card series.
While the Cubs clinched their playoff berth Thursday, they're still playing for seeding and could host a wild-card series at Wrigley Field. They'll avoid the NL's No. 6 seed with a win in Friday's nightcap and a Philadelphia Phillies loss to the Rays.
If the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday and both the Cubs and Phillies lose, San Diego will lock up the NL's No. 4 seed and host either Chicago, Philadelphia, or Arizona in the wild-card series.
