'X Factor': Fox pulls show due to rain-delayed baseball playoff

It’s confirmed: God hates Simon Cowell.

A two-hour rain delay that pushed the start of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series has prompted Fox to reluctantly pull competition series The X Factor from its schedule Wednesday night.

The downpour delayed the baseball game’s East Coast start time from 4:19 p.m. to 6:32 p.m. By the time X Factor was supposed to begin, the game was only in its fifth inning. The episode will not air on the west coast, either.

Fox had scheduled a two-hour telecast of X Factor to start at 8 p.m. ET that included contestants going to the judges homes and celebrity guest judges such as Rihanna. Instead, tonight’s planned telecast will air Thursday night. And the Thursday telecast will air on Sunday — unless that gets bumped by a Game 7 — with next Tuesday’s episode airing as planned.

There’s a 30 percent chance of afternoon rain impacting tomorrow’s Game 5 as well, so there’s only a slim chance of the heavens spoiling X Factor a second time.