Rain in Boston made the Fenway Park field unplayable, postponing Sunday night’s ALCS Game Four and leaving the two teams, their organizations, and their fans another 24 hours to fan the flames and doctor the spin from Saturday’s imbroglio (wasn’t he traded for Lou Brock?). The game will be played Monday evening, with Game Five pushed back to Tuesday afternoon and then, if necessary, Games Six and Seven going on as scheduled in da Bronx. The travel day has been eliminated.

Both managers decided to use the postponement to realign their rotations. The Yanks will now start Mike Mussina against Boston’s Tim Wakefield, a rematch of Game One in which the Sox got the upper hand. Game Five, to be played Tuesday at 4:18 PM, will pit Wells against either Derek Lowe or John Burkett.

Overall, this would seem to benefit the Red Sox more, since they can skip over Burkett to pitch Lowe at Fenway, where he’s been much more effective (3.21 ERA there vs. 6.11 on the road). On the other hand, Lowe looked the other night as though the postseason innings were taking a bit of a toll on his shoulder, so Boston manager Grady Little left himself an out. The Yanks will get the benefit of Moose on his normal four days’ rest, compared to the seven he had before Game One, a factor which may have contributed to his lack of command.

Meanwhile, four of the principals in Saturday’s drama — Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Don Zimmer, and Karim Garcia — were fined by Major League Baseball disciplinarian Bob Watson. According to the Boston Globe, Martinez’s wallet will be lightened by $50,000, Ramirez’s by $25,000, Garcia’s by $10,000, and Zimmer’s by $5,000.

Watson also announced that the ninth-inning bullpen incident involving Garcia, Jeff Nelson, and a Sox groundskeeper was still under review. Boston police said no arrests were planned relating to the incident, but that a summons still might be issued. Garcia was scratched from Sunday’s lineup due to the injuries he sustained on his left hand, but will be available later in the series. Zimmer issued a brief, tearful apology for his role in the matter, the only one of the four principals to do so.