First pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies' season-deciding finale at Citizens Bank Park has been moved up a half hour to 2:30 p.m. ET due to weather concerns.
The nor'easter that has hit the Northeast United States has thrown some wrenches in Major League Baseball's final week, with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs scheduling a doubleheader on Friday – then playing Sunday's game in Florida
– to avoid rainouts.Originally all of MLB's Sunday finales had a synchronized start time of 3 p.m., but two games without playoff implications – Yankees-Orioles and Nationals-Mets – were bumped to earlier in the day with rain forecast in the areas.
The Phillies looked to be a lock for the MLB playoffs
but have fallen apart in recent weeks while being chased down by the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks. But Philadelphia controls its own destiny and will clinch the NL's final wild card spot with a win or an Arizona loss.
Should the Phillies lose and Diamondbacks win, Arizona would get into the postseason via the intradivision record tiebreaker since the two teams split the seasons – and Philadelphia would miss the postseason for the first time since 2021.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Phillies weather updates: Dramatic finale's game time changed due to rain
