Guardians to open with Shawn Armstrong; Rays start Nick Martinez in ALCS Game 4

CLEVELAND (AP) — Shawn Armstrong will be the opener for Cleveland and Tampa Bay will start Nick Martinez in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series on Friday night.

The Guardians have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after Petey Halpin's two-run homer propelled them to a 3-2 victory in Game 3 on Thursday afternoon.

Both teams waited to announce their pitching plans because of the weather. It is supposed to rain in Cleveland most of Friday, but there is a window between 8-11 p.m. ET that could allow them to get the game played.

The start time was also moved back two hours to 8 p.m. ET after the Milwaukee Brewers swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series Thursday night.

An ALCS game has not been postponed since 2019, when the New York Yankees hosted the Houston Astros.

This will be Armstrong's fifth appearance this postseason in what will be a bullpen game for Cleveland. The right-hander has allowed only one hit in 5 1/3 innings with five strikeouts.

Armstrong thought his season was done in late July when he suffered a calf strain, but he returned during the final week of the regular season.

Armstrong was drafted by Cleveland in the 18th round in 2011 and made his big-league debut four years later. He was traded to Seattle in 2017 and spent time with four other organizations, including Tampa Bay, before signing with Cleveland this season.

“I think I said it to (Erik) Sabrowski, whenever we were standing in the outfield in Game 2 in Tampa — obviously I played here, I got drafted here, coming back here and being able to be in this situation is — words can’t describe it,” Armstrong said before Thursday's game.

Martinez started Game 3 of the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees. He went 3 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts. The right-hander went 15-6 during the regular season and was sixth in the AL with a 3.10 ERA. He was third in the AL with 26 starts where he allowed three runs or fewer.

“It’s just like my starts throughout the year; it’s going to be a dogfight going in, just to see how many outs I can get for this team, it’s important,” he said on Thursday.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

A tarp covers the field the day before Game 3 of baseball's American League Champions Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Members of the grounds crew prepare the field for weather after Game 3 of an American League Championship Series baseball game between the Cleveland Guardians and the Tampa Bay Rays in Cleveland, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Nick Martinez attempts to field a single hit by New York Yankees' Anthony Volpe during the fourth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Shawn Armstrong throws against the Tampa Bay Rays during the seventh inning in Game 2 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in St. Petersburg, Fla. Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

CHICAGO (AP) — Tesla has unveiled its new Roadster sports car, which can thrust itself up in the air. But drivers shouldn't expect to take it for a spin anytime soon.

Elon Musk's electric car company this week debuted the latest bells and whistles of its second-generation Roadster — chief among them, as shown off at a Thursday event, are a set of cold gas thrusters and a “multi-mode” suction system that can fling the car in the air for short spurts and spin the vehicle mid-flight.

“Turns out the future does have flying cars,” Musk, Tesla's CEO, wrote on his social media platform X shortly after.

Thursday's event was hosted at the Texas rocket testing and development center for SpaceX — Musk's now publicly-traded rocket company — and Tesla's executives noted that they “borrowed” some SpaceX technology to get the new Roadster in the air. Beyond quick jumps and flips, Tesla also said the car can accelerate from zero to 60 miles (96.6 km) an hour in less than a second.

This week's launch arrived after years of delays and anticipation around the new Roadster — and Tesla shares climbed up slightly in morning trading on Friday after its unveiling.

Still, Musk said production for consumers won't begin until 2028. Tesla also didn't immediately set a price tag on its latest EV.

And of course, these kinds of cars aren't flinging themselves in the air over highways and streets just yet. There are ample regulatory hurdles for flying vehicles overall. The fine print of the Roadster's “rocket” feature on Tesla's website notes: “Not approved for public road use.”

Musk has repeatedly said that the future of driving will be autonomous — and Austin-based Tesla has focused much of its business on building out self-driving features for its vehicles and, more recently, launching its own (still limited) robotaxi business.

But the company maintains that its new Roadster will be made for humans behind the wheel, calling the EV the “best of the last human-driven cars.”

Thursday's demo was technically autonomous “to make sure we don’t kill anyone,” Musk noted. But long-term, he said, the new Roadster will be “the only manually driven car that Tesla makes.”

“This is not necessarily a safety-optimized car,” Musk later added, met by laughter from the audience. But “it takes the fun meter to 11 out of 10.”

Tesla's first Roadster was launched to the public back in 2008. And in 2018, Musk went as far as placing that EV on a rocket (with a mannequin dubbed “Starman” in the driver's seat) and launching it into space.

Again, the second-generation Roadster isn't immediately hitting the market. And whether the ambitious new vehicle boosts the company's bottom line remains to be seen.

In second-quarter earnings reported over the summer, Tesla's profits fell as the company spent more on research and development for its robotaxi and robotics businesses — which cut into money made from an otherwise sharp increase in vehicle sales. Net income totaled $1.11 billion for the period, while revenue climbed to $28.24 billion.

FILE - The Tesla logo is displayed at a Tesla dealership Thursday, Mar. 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, file)