Cubs, Sox Have Flights Scheduled to Play Sunday Game in Tampa
This has been reported all over the place, and we’ve mentioned it here in a couple other posts, so let’s keep this quick. The Cubs and Red Sox both have flights to Tampa/St. Petersburg scheduled for 10 and 10:20pm ET, respectively, and it feels close to inevitable at this point that they’ll have to play the final game in Florida. I say “close to” because, as noted previously, they’d have to schedule the flights in advance even if it was just precautionary.
#RedSox plane also planning to fly to Tampa Bay area tonight; @ChrisCotillo says the tentative plan is for a 3:05 p.m. start for #Cubs–#RedSox at the Trop on Sunday pic.twitter.com/TJM6M8G3BR
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) September 25, 2026
Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported that the tentative plan is to play at 3:05pm ET on Sunday, which would be both good and bad for both teams. Good because it gives them a day off after the forced doubleheader on Friday and before the postseason begins. Bad because it may mean not coming home before heading off to play that opening round. The Red Sox are locked into a matchup with the Yankees in New York, and Boston manager Chad Tracy told reporters that his team is packed for 11 days.
That would obviously mean being ready for the start of the second round as well. The Cubs’ future is not nearly as certain because they could still move up or down in the Wild Card standings over the next few days. Ideally, they’ll sweep the Sox and catch the Padres to earn the top spot and play host to San Diego in the first round. That would cut down on travel and ensure the Cubs don’t have to play at Petco Park, where the Pads are 20 games over .500 this season.
We’ll know more about the weekend schedule fairly soon, but the playoff picture may not be determined until Sunday evening.
