Gerrit Cole and Jose Altuve lifted Houston to big road win
Astros playoff report presented by APG&E: Astros take ALCS Game 3 for 2-1 series lead
Oct 15, 2019, 6:53 pm
Gerrit Cole and Jose Altuve lifted Houston to big road win
Jose Altuve went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in ALCS Game 3
The Astros come out on top in ALCS Game 3 with a 4-1 win in New York against the Yankees. Houston received seven shutout innings from Gerrit Cole and a big offensive day from Jose Altuve, who was 2-for-5 with a solo home run. They now lead the series 2-1 and need two more wins to advance to the World Series.
After falling behind 0-1 in the ALCS, Houston worked a home split against New York with a walk-off win in ALCS Game 2. The series shifted to New York for the next three games, giving the Yankees a chance to benefit from playing in front of their home crowd. Here is a recap of Game 3 from Yankee Stadium:
Final Score: Astros 4, Yankees 1.
Series: Astros lead 2-1.
Winning Pitcher: Gerrit Cole.
Losing Pitcher: Luis Severino.
In the top of the first inning against Luis Severino, the Astros received a big hit to try and keep the crowd out of the game. It came off the bat of Jose Altuve, who launched a one-out solo home run to left-center field to give Houston the quick 1-0 lead. They would continue to pester Luis Severino in the first, loading the bases before all three runners would be stranded to end the half-inning.
Tuve! #ALCS pic.twitter.com/eLRPMvwpyb
— MLB (@MLB) October 15, 2019
In the top of the second, Josh Reddick doubled Houston's lead with a solo home run to right field to make it 2-0. While after the first inning, it looked as though the Astros would be able to push Severino to an early exit, New York's pitcher would settle in well and make it through four and one-third innings before the Yankees went to their bullpen.
Meanwhile, Gerrit Cole was not able to put together his typically dominant pitching against the powerful Yankees lineup. New York, like the Astros, would load the bases in the first inning, but Cole would end the threat to strand all three. That would be one of several frames that Cole would have to deal with traffic, as he would allow five walks and four hits over the first five innings.
He would follow those five stressful innings with two terrific ones, though, retiring the last seven batters he faced in order including 1-2-3 innings in the sixth and seventh. While he didn't reach double-digit strikeouts as he had over his last eleven starts, it was still as, if not more, impressive of a start when it hit the scoreboard: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 7 K, 0 HR.
Houston was able to add on to their lead by playing "small ball" in the top of the seventh. George Springer started the inning with a leadoff walk, then moved to third on a well-executed hit and run with Jose Altuve. Michael Brantley would hit a groundball next to cause a force out of Springer at home, but not before Springer could stall long enough to let Altuve advance to third and Brantley to second. An intentional walk to Alex Bregman loaded the bases, then a wild pitch scored one run before a sacrifice fly by Yuli Gurriel scored another, doubling Houston's advantage to 4-0.
The @Astros manufactured a pair in the 7th. #ALCS pic.twitter.com/ykulKvS2Ta
— MLB (@MLB) October 15, 2019
After Cole's seven innings, Joe Smith would be the first reliever on the mound for Houston at the bottom of the eighth. He would allow a one-out solo home run to Gleyber Torres, resulting in another call to the bullpen to bring in Will Harris, who would finish the inning. The Astros then turned to their closer, Roberto Osuna, to preserve the three-run lead and get a save. He would come through, getting a scoreless inning to finish off the win.
Up Next: Currently, ALCS Game 4 is slated for Wednesday at 7:08 PM Central. However, rain threatens that time with a possible postponement in the works to move the game to Thursday and move Game 5 to Friday. With the game day and time up in the air, so is the expected pitching matchup. Should the game be played tomorrow, both teams are expected to have a bullpen day, with the Astros looking to Jose Urquidy for at least part of that. If the MLB postpones the game until Thursday, that opens the opportunity for a rematch of Game 1 between Zack Greinke and Masahiro Tanaka, should the two managers go that route.
The Astros playoff report is presented by APG&E.
Jeremy Peña had three hits to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, Colton Gordon got his first major league win and the Houston Astros defeated the Cleveland Guardians 4-2 on Friday night.
Christian Walker drove in a pair of runs in the fifth inning and Brendan Rodgers added a solo shot in the sixth as the Astros improved to 3-1 on their six-game road trip.
Progressive overload.#BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/csk8tFHxKu
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 7, 2025
Gordon (1-1), who was making his fifth start, allowed one run on seven hits and struck out five. The left-hander was an eighth-round pick in the 2021 amateur draft.
Josh Hader recorded his 17th save, tied for second in the American League.
David Fry homered for the Guardians, who have dropped three of four. Carlos Santana had his 14-game hitting streak snapped.
It is the second hitting streak this season of at least 10 games for Peña. The shortstop is batting .449 (22 of 49) with three home runs and six RBIs during his current run.
On the board! pic.twitter.com/fbUnQOWE2Y
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 7, 2025
Houston took the lead with three runs in the fifth off Cleveland starter Logan Allen (3-4). Peña scored from second on a deep infield single by Jose Altuve and Walker drove in a pair with a base hit to right.
Making things happen!
Astros lead 3-0 pic.twitter.com/mybMfve9V4
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 7, 2025
Cleveland had a chance to do some damage in the first inning, but Angel Martínez and José Ramírez were thrown out at second by Houston left fielder Mauricio Dubón when they tried to extend base hits into doubles.
Need a reason to #VoteDubi?#AllStrosGame⭐️ https://t.co/W06pfHQMR1 pic.twitter.com/8NNJmb1qHU
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 6, 2025
Dubón joined Toronto's Addison Barger as outfielders with a pair of assists in one inning this season.
"Wanna see me do it again?" -Dubi#VoteDubi ⭐️ https://t.co/W06pfHRkGz pic.twitter.com/5V3vBQPqTi
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 6, 2025
Houston's struggles with the bases loaded continues. The Astros were 0 for 2 Friday night and are last in the majors with a .146 batting average.
Houston RHP Hunter Brown (8-3, 1.83 ERA) is tied for the AL lead in wins. Cleveland will go with RHP Gavin Williams (5-3, 3.79 ERA).