The Astros are back in the driver's seat

Astros playoff report presented by APG&E: Houston evens World Series with a dominant win in Game 4

Alex Bregman celebrates a grand slam
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

Alex Bregman hit a monster grand slam to blow World Series Game 4 open

With an utterly disappointing start to the World Series for the Astros having lost the first two games at home with their best pitchers on the mound, they took Game 3 to get back into it. On Saturday, they went one step further with an 8-1 win in Game 4, and are now back in the driver's seat with both teams needing two wins of the final three games to take the series.

It started with a brilliant performance by Jose Urquidy, who exceeded expectations in a start that earned him a win, then Alex Bregman put the exclamation point on the night with a grand slam later in the game. Here is a recap of Game 4:

Final Score: Astros 8, Nationals 1.

Series: tied 2-2.

Winning Pitcher: Jose Urquidy.

Losing Pitcher: Patrick Corbin.

Houston jumps ahead early again

Just like in Game 3, the Astros went right at the Nationals to get an early lead. It came by way of four-straight singles in the top of the first by Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman, and Yuli Gurriel, with Bregman and Gurriel's coming in for RBIs. They would go on to load the bases, but an inning-ending double play would hold them to just a 2-0 lead.

That score held until the top of the fourth, where Houston doubled their score with one swing of the bat. Carlos Correa started the inning with his second walk of the night, setting up a two-run homer by Robinson Chirinos, his second in as many nights, pushing the Astros out to a 4-0 lead.

Urquidy exceeds expectations in a gem of a start

While the Astros were putting up four runs, Jose Urquidy would have been okay with just one through his start. In a game that was expected to be full of many relievers, the rookie pitcher carried his team on his back for a terrific outing.

Urquidy allowed two hits, a single in the first and double in the third. That's it for five innings in the World Series against the Nationals who just three days ago put up twelve runs. Not only was it just what his team needed, but it was also arguably the best start by a pitcher on either team this whole series. His final line in an incredible night: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K.

Nats get one back in the sixth, but Bregman blows it open in the seventh

Josh James was first out of Houston's bullpen as they looked to their relievers to hold on to the four-run lead over the final four innings. James would not have his best stuff, getting a strikeout but allowing two walks, prompting A.J. Hinch to make another move to bring in Will Harris to shut down the inning.

Harris would have a comebacker deflect off his leg against his first batter, loading the bases before getting an RBI-groundout for the second out, making it 4-1. He would end the threat there, getting a crucial strikeout to end the inning and hold the three-run lead.

In the top of the seventh, the Astros went to work against Washington's bullpen. They loaded the bases on a pinch-hit walk by Kyle Tucker, walk by George Springer, then single by Michal Brantley. That brought the struggling Alex Bregman to the plate with one out, and instead of getting just one run on a sacrifice hit, instead blew the game open with a huge grand slam to make it 8-1 and get him back on track at the plate.

Houston ties the series

Hector Rondon was next out of Houston's bullpen to try and hold the newly created seven-run lead in the bottom of the seventh. He would record two outs while putting two on base, resulting in a change to bring in Brad Peacock, who would get the last out of the inning. Peacock remained in the game for the bottom of the eighth, working around a walk and error for a scoreless inning to move the game into the ninth with Houston still ahead seven runs.

Chris Devenski was the final pitcher of the night for the Astros, coming in for the bottom of the ninth to hold on to the seven-run lead and get the final three outs. He did so, getting a scoreless frame to finish the victory, which has Houston in a tie for the World Series with back-to-back wins after dropping the first two games.

Up Next: World Series Game 5 will get underway Sunday with another 7:07 PM Central start time. The pitching matchup is a rematch of Game 1 with the Nationals sending out Max Scherzer and the Astros starting Gerrit Cole. Scherzer was the winner of that game with five innings of work while allowing two runs and Cole received his first loss of the postseason by allowing five runs over seven frames. Houston will expect Cole to be back to the dominant self that had him out to a 3-0 start to the postseason before that tough outing.

The Astros playoff report is presented by APG&E.

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM
The Braves blew the game open against Hader on Monday night. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

When the Astros signed Josh Hader to anchor the back of the bullpen with Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu, we thought the club might have the best 'pen in MLB.

But at this early stage in the season, nobody is confusing these guys with Octavio Dotel, Brad Lidge, and Billy Wager.

Heading into the ninth inning on Monday night, the Astros handed the ball to Hader trailing the Braves 2-1. Instead of keeping the game close and giving the Astros' offense one more chance, the Braves teed off on the closer putting the game out of reach and ultimately winning 6-1.

Hader has one save on the season with an ERA over nine. Which has us wondering, do the Astros have a Hader problem?

Don't miss the video above as ESPN Houston's John Granato and Lance Zierlein weigh in!

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome