Open up: Rangers' retractable roof open for Game 4 of ALCS against Astros

The Texas Rangers hold a team baseball practice with the roof open in Arlington, Texas, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. The Rangers are scheduled to play the Houston Astros in Game 3 of MLB's American League Championship Series on Wednesday. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The roof was open for Game 4 of the AL Championship Series on Thursday night, the first home game for the Texas Rangers in nearly five months without it closed.

That retractable roof at Globe Life Field was last opened for a game May 21. The Rangers started 11 games with the roof open during the regular season and were 7-4. That included opening day against the Philadelphia Phillies on March 30, the only time in the stadium's four seasons that the roof was open before being closed during the middle of a game because of a threat of rain.

The game time temperature was 78 degrees with clear skies.

Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS were played with the roof closed at Minute Maid Park, the Houston Astros' retractable-roof stadium.

When neutral-site postseason games were played at Globe Life Field during the 2020 season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the roof was open for 13 of 16 of those games.

It was open for all three NL Division Series games and all seven NLCS games, then for three of the six World Series games. It was closed for Game 3 of the World Series because of chilly conditions and the chance of rain, then again during Games 5 and 6 because of misty and unseasonably cool temperatures when the Los Angeles Dodgers wrapped up the title.

The roof was closed for Game 3 of the NLCS at Chase Field in Phoenix, where the gametime temperature was 100 outside the ballpark and 76 inside the stadium.

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