The Astros are one win away from the AL pennant
Astros playoff report presented by APG&E: Houston takes commanding 3-1 ALCS lead with Game 4 win
Oct 17, 2019, 11:28 pm
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images
Carlos Correa celebrating a three-run home run in ALCS Game 4
The Astros are now one win away from advancing to the World Series. Houston took ALCS Game 4 against the Yankees in New York on Thursday, winning 8-3 with big home runs from George Springer and Carlos Correa. The win comes after taking the first of three games in the Bronx on Tuesday before inclement weather postponed Game 4 from Wednesday to Thursday. The victory is the third straight for the Astros after falling 0-1 in the series with a Game 1 loss. Here is a recap of the game:
Final Score: Astros 8, Yankees 3.
Series: Astros lead 3-1.
Winning Pitcher: Ryan Pressly.
Losing Pitcher: Masahiro Tanaka.
Springer connects for a huge home run early
Houston's offense would get out to a slow start in ALCS Game 4, going without a hit in the first two innings against Masahiro Tanaka before putting together a big third. Robinson Chirinos started the inning with a walk, and then Josh Reddick followed with a single to put two on base. That flipped the order over, back to George Springer, who would take advantage of the baserunners with a three-run home run to give Houston a 3-1 lead.
#SpringerDinger right on cue.#ALCS pic.twitter.com/d9fQCy684I
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2019
Greinke turns early trouble into a decent start
Zack Greinke was in trouble early in ALCS Game 4. After a four-pitch walk to start the bottom of the first, he would go on to allow a one-out single then two-out walk to load the bases. His struggles with the strike zone continued, issuing a bases-loaded walk to give the Yankees an early 1-0 lead.
He would recover and settle in over the following innings, allowing just one baserunner through the second, third, and fourth innings. In the bottom of the fifth, he allowed a one-out single before a missed strike call by the home plate umpire turned into an eventual walk to Aaron Judge. With the go-ahead run coming to the plate, A.J. Hinch would call on his bullpen to bring in Ryan Pressly to finish the inning.
Pressly would issue a walk to load the bases before getting huge back-to-back strikeouts to strand all three runners and maintain Houston's 3-1 lead. It also put Greinke's line final: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 0 HR.
Correa blows it open for another big ALCS moment as Astros pull away
In the top of the sixth, a leadoff error put Alex Bregman on board and ended Tanaka's night. First out of New York's bullpen was Chad Green, who allowed a one-out single to Yordan Alvarez to put two runners on base. That set up the second three-run home run of the night, this time by Carlos Correa, giving him another big scoring hit in this ALCS and pushing Houston's lead to 6-1.
You hear that? #ALCS pic.twitter.com/gBdKeiunD6
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2019
With the five-run lead, the Astros turned to Josh James for the bottom of the sixth. He would throw six straight balls to start his appearance, issuing a walk before giving up a two-run home run to cut the lead to 6-3. He would eventually get through the inning, sending the 6-3 game to the seventh. Will Harris took over in the bottom of the seventh and was able to retire the Yankees 1-2-3 in a quick frame. In the top of the eighth, the Astros re-extended their lead after a leadoff double by Alex Bregman, who moved to third and then scored on back-to-back defensive errors on groundballs by the Yankees, making it a four-run game.
Joe Smith was the next reliever out for Houston in the bottom of the eighth, but after two outs would have an error put a runner on second, prompting a call to bring in Roberto Osuna to try and cover four outs. Osuna would get the final out to finish off the eighth, then in the top of the ninth, Michael Brantley would hit a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 8-3. In the bottom of the ninth, Osuna returned and finished off the win with a scoreless inning.
Up Next: Game 5, initially scheduled for Thursday night, will get started on Friday at 6:08 PM Central. With the postponement of Wednesday's game shifting Games 4 and 5 back a day, it allows a pitching matchup of Justin Verlander for Houston going up against James Paxton, a rematch of Game 2. Verlander will look to repeat or improve upon his success in that game where he went 6.2 innings of two-run baseball, while Paxton was removed after 2.1 innings where he allowed a run on four hits. With a win, Houston will advance to their second World Series in three years.
The Astros playoff report is presented by APG&E.
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Ronel Blanco threw six scoreless innings, Jason Heyward had a home run among his three hits and the Houston Astros finished off a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels with a 6-4 victory on Sunday.
JHey with a bomb!! #Relentless pic.twitter.com/fGgoLC9g9m
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 15, 2024
Jeremy Peña had two hits with two runs scored as the Astros won their fourth consecutive game and remained 4 1/2 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners in the American League West.
Blanco (11-6) allowed two walks and had five strikeouts in his return to the starting rotation after pitching two innings of scoreless relief Sept. 7 against Arizona. Blanco was used out of the bullpen for a game to manage his usage in his first full season in the majors.
Josh Hader recorded the final two outs for his 31st save in 33 opportunities.
Taylor Ward hit a home run and rookie Eric Wagaman had two hits for the Angels, who lost their fifth consecutive game and fell for the seventh time in their last eight. The Angels dropped to 60-89, matching their loss total from the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Angels rookie right-hander Caden Dana (1-2) went 3 1/3 innings in his third career start, giving up five runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
In his fourth game in the starting lineup since debuting with the Astros on Sept. 1, Heyward hit a home run, his eighth, in his first at bat to give Houston a 1-0 lead in the third.
Heyward, who was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 24, reached base a fourth time after getting aboard on catcher’s interference in the eighth inning.
Heyward had an RBI single in a four-run fourth inning that also included RBI singles from Peña and Mauricio Dubon. Peña scored a run in the inning on a passed ball by Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe.
Jake Meyers gave the Astros a 6-0 lead in the eighth on an RBI single to right. Ward ended the Astros’ shutout bid with his home run in the eighth off Kaleb Ort, his 24th.
The Angels scored three times in the ninth inning with all three runs charged to left-hander Caleb Ferguson. Gustavo Campero had a run-scoring ground out in his major league debut and Charles Leblanc had a two-run single.
Wagaman had a double among his two hits, one game after he delivered his first career hit with an RBI double on Saturday. Wagaman was playing in his fifth game after making his major league debut Tuesday.
In the bottom of ninth, Astros pitching coach Joshua Miller was ejected by third base umpire Dan Iassogna for arguing a hit-by-pitch call.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: OF Ben Gamel was not in the lineup after sustaining a knee contusion in Saturday’s game. ... OF Kyle Tucker made his second start in right field since returning Sept. 6 from a right shin fracture. ... 1B Jon Singleton was a late scratch with an illness and was replaced by Victor Caratini.
Angels: OF Mickey Moniak was hit by a pitch on his left hand in the ninth inning and left the game. ... An MRI on the right shoulder of RHP Ben Joyce revealed only inflammation, although the team still will shut down the reliever, whose last pitch of the season on Sept. 3 was a 105.5-mph fastball. ... RHP Carson Fulmer (right elbow inflammation) was reinstated from the injured list, while both OF Bryce Teodosio (right middle finger fracture) and LHP Sam Aldegheri (left middle finger blister) were placed on the IL.
UP NEXT
Astros: RHP Spencer Arrighetti (7-12, 4.72 ERA) is scheduled to pitch in the opener of a three-game road series against the San Diego Padres.
Angels: LHP Reid Detmers (4-6, 5.64 ERA) is scheduled to pitch in the opener of a three-game road series against the Chicago White Sox.