CLEVELAND -- The Rays could have shuffled their pitching plans after Game 4 of the American League Championship Series was postponed due to rain Friday night at Progressive Field. Instead, they’re sticking with the setup that they believe gives them the best chance to come back from a 2-1 deficit and defeat the Guardians.

Right-hander will start Game 4 on Saturday night, as he had been originally scheduled to do Friday. The Guardians also declined to change their Game 4 starter with an extra day to do so, sticking with right-hander Shawn Armstrong as an opener.

Speaking shortly after the game was called by MLB, Rays manager Kevin Cash didn’t announce anything regarding the Rays’ rotation beyond Martinez starting in Game 4.

“We’ll go day to day from there,” Cash added.

But we can still draw a few conclusions. Ace Drew Rasmussen is now lined up to start Game 5 on Sunday with an extra day of rest, and red-hot right-hander Freddy Peralta can pitch Game 6 if the Rays can send the series back to Tropicana Field on Monday night.

Of course, if they lose Game 4 and find themselves one defeat away from the offseason, they will likely make everyone available with an all-hands-on-deck approach to keep their season alive.

Tampa Bay theoretically could have bumped Rasmussen ahead of Martinez to start the postponed Game 4 on Friday, because he would be available on four days’ rest. But both were going to have to start at some point, and the Rays believe this alignment gives them the best chance to win both games.

There’s plenty of logic behind the idea of keeping the rotation in order.

For one, Martinez was brilliant against the Guardians in two regular-season matchups, spinning 13 scoreless innings. His 2.38 ERA on the road during the regular season was the fourth-best mark in the AL, behind only the Yankees' Cam Schlittler, the Blue Jays' Dylan Cease and the Guardians' Parker Messick. It also could have disrupted his routine to push back his scheduled start by two days, especially since he hasn’t taken the mound since he worked 3 2/3 innings in Game 3 of the ALDS.

Plus, there is clearly a certain psychological benefit for the Rays when he takes the mound, as they’ve gone 23-9 in his starts this year.

“Nick's been a leader for us all year. He's been the bridge that's held us together,” left fielder Chandler Simpson said Friday afternoon. “When he's on the mound, we know our leader's on the mound [and] we have to be behind him 100 percent. … We know that when he's on the bump that everybody's going to be behind him.”

And it might not be the worst thing to bank an extra day of rest for Rasmussen, who threw a career-high 114 pitches in his regular-season finale at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 22, 101 pitches over eight innings in Game 1 of the ALDS on Oct. 3 and 91 pitches while working into the seventh inning in Game 1 of the ALCS on Monday.

Rasmussen can now pitch Game 5 against the Guardians on Sunday on five days’ rest. That was the norm for him during the regular season; 23 of his 30 starts came with five days of rest or more, whereas he only pitched seven times on four days’ rest.

Plus, Rasmussen -- the team’s most reliable source of innings so far this postseason -- will now pitch the second of what could be four consecutive games, since the schedule for a potential Game 6 (Monday night at Tropicana Field) and Game 7 (Tuesday night at The Trop) has not changed.

Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said the string of consecutive games could be a good thing for a Tampa Bay team that has only played six games in nearly three weeks since its regular-season finale in Philadelphia on Sept. 27.

“I don’t think there’s anything particularly daunting about playing consecutive games. I think if anything, it’s something we’re looking forward to,” Neander said. “We haven’t played much of a regular schedule the last few weeks. For that to matter, we need to come out and play a good game tomorrow.”

In Martinez, the Rays should have the right man on the mound to set the tone. He took the weather-related uncertainty hanging over his Game 4 start in stride -- literally.

“I didn't even know about it until the walk over here,” Martinez said Thursday morning, smiling. “We're just going to take it as we go, right? Not much you can control about that. Just be ready to go.”

He’s been ready to go all series. The 36-year-old veteran spent Game 1 sitting in the Rays’ bullpen in case his name was called. He moved to the dugout for Games 2 and 3 but kept his cleats on in case the Rays needed him to pitch in relief.

“Whatever the team needs,” Martinez said, “I’m up for it.”