The Dodgers crushed the Astros bullpen. Getty Images
The Astros' bullpen once again fails the team after a quiet offensive night, allowing the Dodgers to put up five runs in a ninth inning that started in a 1-1 tie. The series is now tied 2-2.
George Springer and Alex Bregman hit solo home runs for Houston, but it was Ken Giles and Jose Musgrove who blew the game in the top of the ninth in the 6-2 loss to the Dodgers. It was the first loss at home for the Astros this postseason.
Game 4 got underway with a leadoff single by Chris Taylor off of Charlie Morton in the top of the first. Morton was able to work around it, though, thanks to Brian McCann getting the third out of the inning by throwing Taylor out trying to steal second. Alex Wood started strong with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half to keep the first inning scoreless.
In the top of the second, Morton was able to put the Dodgers down in order on just 9 pitches with a flyout and two groundouts. Wood worked around a leadoff walk of Carlos Correa getting a double play and groundout to keep the game tied 0-0 going into the third.
Morton continued to look strong early, getting another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third including two strikeouts. Wood issued a one-out walk to Marwin Gonzalez in the bottom of the inning but worked around it getting a strikeout and groundout to send the scoreless game to the fourth.
Morton continued to cruise in the top of the fourth, getting two strikeouts and a groundout on 8 pitches to retire the Dodgers in order. Wood was also efficient in the bottom of the inning, getting another 1-2-3 inning as the pitcher's duel continued, leaving the game at 0-0 going into the fifth.
In the fifth, Morton continued to shine, getting two more strikeouts to bring his total to seven during another three up, three down half inning. Wood kept pace in the bottom of the inning, putting the Astros down in order again sending the scoreless and combined one-hit game to the sixth inning.
Morton had a pitch get away from him in the top of the sixth, hitting Austin Barnes to put the leadoff batter on base for the Dodgers. Barnes moved to third on a one-out single by Kike Hernandez but was thrown out as Alex Bregman played a ground ball perfectly to freeze Hernandez trying to run home, followed by a flyout to end the threat and keep the Dodgers off the board. George Springer not only recorded the first hit of the night for the Astros in the bottom of the inning but put the first run on the board with a two-out solo home run to the Crawford Boxes, giving the Astros a 1-0 lead and ending the night for Wood. Brandon Morrow took over on the mound for the Dodgers and was able to get the last out of the inning, sending the 1-0 game to the seventh.
Bregman started the top of the seventh with yet another great play, knocking down a ground ball from Justin Turner and lasering a throw to first base for the first out. Cody Bellinger hit a one-out double to the left-center corner, ending Charlie Morton's great night and bringing in Will Harris. Harris was able to get a flyout for the second out but gave up an RBI single to Logan Forsythe to tie the game 1-1 before getting a groundout for the third out. Morrow returned to the mound for the bottom of the seventh and had a three up, three down half inning to keep the game tied.
Chris Devenski was next out of the Astros' bullpen and pitched the top of the eighth, a 1-2-3 half inning to keep the game tied. Tony Watson pitched the bottom of the inning for the Dodgers and he too was able to record a hitless inning, sending the game to the ninth knotted up at 1.
Ken Giles went to the mound for the top of the ninth and allowed a leadoff single to Corey Seager, then walked Justin Turner to put runners on first and second with no outs. Cody Bellinger was up next and gave the Dodgers their first lead of the night on an RBI single to make it 2-1 and give the struggling Giles the hook in favor of Joe Musgrove. Musgrove entered with runners on second and third with no outs and gave up a one-out sac fly to Barnes to make it a 3-1 game before allowing Los Angeles to blow the game open on a three-run homer by Joc Pederson to extend the lead to 6-1. Kenley Jansen pitched the bottom of the night for the Dodgers and despite a two-out solo home run by Alex Bregman was able to finish the 6-2 loss for the Astros.
Game 5: First pitch of Game 5 is scheduled for 7:20 PM tomorrow night from Minute Maid Park. The pitching matchup will be a rematch of Game 1 which put Dallas Keuchel for the Astros against Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers. Kershaw won the battle in Game 1, going seven innings of three-hit, one run baseball in the Dodgers' win while Keuchel allowed three runs over six and two-thirds. Kershaw is one of the best pitchers in baseball, period, but Keuchel is historically dominant at home. The Astros will look to regain the series lead with a win in the last home game tomorrow night and head to Los Angeles in need of one more to win the series.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Rockets advance to NBA Cup semifinals after thrilling win over Warriors
Dec 11, 2024, 11:50 pm
The woeful state of the Astros' farm system has made it very expensive to continue maintaining a good team, prohibitively so (in part self-imposed) from having a great team. Even if they re-sign Alex Bregman, trading Framber Valdez and/or Kyle Tucker for prospects could snap the Astros' run of eight straight postseason appearances. But if they KNOW that no way do they intend to offer Framber five years 130 million dollars, Tucker 7/225 or whatever their free agent markets might be after next season, keeping them for 2025 but getting nothing but 2026 compensatory draft picks for them could do multi-year damage to the franchise.
Preliminary Kyle Tucker trade talks between the Astros and Cubs involve both Seiya Suzuki and Isaac Paredes, sources tell @Ken_Rosenthal and me - https://t.co/kIRATDQpEn
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) December 11, 2024
The time is here for the Astros to be aggressively shopping both. It doesn't make trading them obligatory, but even though many purported top prospects amount to little or nothing (look up what the Astros traded to Detroit for Justin Verlander, to Pittsburgh for Gerrit Cole, to Arizona for Zack Greinke) if strong packages are offered the Astros need to act if unwilling (reasonably or not) to pay Valdez/Tucker.
Last offseason the Milwaukee Brewers traded pitching ace Corbin Burnes one season ahead of his free agency and then again won the National League Central, the San Diego Padres dealt Juan Soto and wound up much improved and a playoff team after missing the 2023 postseason. But nailing the trades is critical. The Brewers got their everyday rookie third baseman Joey Ortiz and two other prospects. The Padres got quality starter Michael King, catcher Kyle Hagashioka, and three prospects.
Back to Bregman
Meanwhile, decision time approaches for Alex Bregman. He, via agent Scott Boras, wants 200-plus million dollars. Don't we all. If he can land that from somebody, congratulations. The Astros' six-year 156 million dollar contract offer is more than fair. That's 26 million dollars per season and would take Bregman within a few months of his 37th birthday. If rounding up to 160 mil gets it done, ok I guess. Going to 200 would be silly.
While Bregman hasn't been a superstar (or even an All-Star) since 2019, he's still a very good player. That includes his 2024 season which showed decline offensively. Not falling off a cliff decline other than his walk rate plunging about 45 percent, but decline. If Bregman remains the exact player he was this season, six-156 is pricey but not crazy in the current marketplace. But how likely is Bregman to not drop off further in his mid-30s? As noted before, the storyline is bogus that Bregman has been a postseason monster. Over seven League Championship Series and four World Series Bregman has a .196 batting average.
The Astros already should be sweating some over Jose Altuve having shown marked decline this season, before his five year 125 million dollar extension covering 2025-2029 even starts. Altuve was still very good offensively though well down from 2022 and 2023 (defensively his data are now awful), but as he approaches turning 35 years old in May some concern is warranted when locked into paying a guy until he's nearly 39 1/2.
Jim Crane is right in noting that long contracts paying guys huge money in their later years generally go poorly for the clubs.
Bang for your buck
Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez is heading into the second year of a five-year, $124 million extension. That's 24.8 million dollars per season. Jose Ramirez is a clearly better player than Alex Bregman. Ramirez has been the better player for five consecutive seasons, and only in 2023 was it even close. It should be noted that Ramirez signed his extension in April of 2022. He is about a year and a half older than Bregman so the Guardians are paying their superstar through his age 36 season.
Bregman benefits from playing his home games at soon-to be named Daikin Park. Bregman hit 26 home runs this year. Using ball-tracking data, if he had played all his games in Houston, Bregman would have hit 31 homers. Had all his swings been taken at Yankee Stadium, the "Breggy Bomb" count would have been 25. In Cleveland, just 18. Ramirez hit 41 dingers. If all his games were home games 40 would have cleared the fences, if all had been at Minute Maid Park 47 would have been gone.
Matt Chapman recently signed a six-year 151 million dollar deal to stay with the San Francisco Giants. That's 25.166 million per season. Chapman was clearly a better player than Bregman this year. But it's the only season of Chapman's career that is the case. Chapman is 11 months older than Bregman, so his lush deal with the Giants carries through his age 37 season.
The Giants having overpaid Chapman doesn't obligate the Astros to do the same with Bregman. So, if you're the Astros do you accept overpaying Bregman? They would almost certainly be worse without him in 2025, but what about beyond? Again, having not one elite prospect in their minor league system boxes them in. Still, until/unless the Seattle Mariners upgrade their offense, the Astros cling to American League West favorites status. On the other hand, WITH Bregman, Tucker, and Valdez the Astros are no postseason lock.
For Texans’ conversation, catch Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me on our Texans On Tap podcasts. Thursdays feature a preview of the upcoming game, and then we go live (then available on demand) after the final gun of the game: Texans on Tap - YouTube
The Astros are always in season for discussion. Our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts drop Mondays: Click here to watch!