Before checking in on the weather forecast for tonight’s Game 4 in Cleveland …

A report that leaked through to ESPN Deportes claimed that Big Papi was considering sitting out a game of the ALCS to rest his injured knee, a balky, season-long hindrance that may have taken a renewed barking after he tried to stop on a dime to avoid being hit by a Manny Ramirez grounder last night in Cleveland. Instead of sitting out, Ortiz claimed that there was a zero percent chance of him missing any ALCS time. When asked by the Globe’s Amalie Benjamin about the injury, Ortiz said, “Unless I can’t get out of bed, I’ve got to keep on playing.”

As for getting out of bed, there remains a distinct possibility that, like last year’s NLCS between the Cardinals and Mets, tonight’s Game 4 could get bumped back a day because of rain. According to Steve Silva of boston.com, the chance of showers and thunderstorms before 3 p.m. in Cleveland has now turned to a statistical probability for thundershowers, with a 70 percent chance for rain after 3 p.m. and a thunderstorm probable.

That forecast, of course, would pave the way for Josh Beckett to pitch Game 4 tomorrow on regular rest, then return to pitch a potential Game 7 back at the Fens on regular rest again. Will it happen? That’s to be determined by the weather Gods and Terry Francona, the former of which has a reputation for being remarkably fickle, the latter a well-known stalwart.

Still, it seems all but impossible that Francona would pass up a chance to get two more Beckett starts under Boston’s belt on full rest in the series. Sure, this is Terry Francona and he is hopelessly devoted to Tim Wakefield, the scheduled starter for tonight’s tilt. But even with that, you can already see everyone penciling in Beckett for a Game 4 tomorrow if the rain keeps coming.

All there is to do now is wait on the rain to come. Or not.

– Cameron Smith