Rangers-Astros Game 4: Houston evens up series with 10-3 beatdown of Texas
ARLINGTON, TX - OCTOBER 19: Adolis Garcia #53 of the Texas Rangers reacts after hitting a solo home run in the second inning during Game 4 of the ALCS between the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Thursday, October 19, 2023
ARLINGTON, Texas - Houston continued their dominance over the Texas Rangers in Arlington in Game 4 to even the ALCS at 2-2.
José Abreu hit a three-run homer right after Yordan Alvarez’s tiebreaking sacrifice fly, and the Houston Astros pulled even in the AL Championship Series with a 10-3 victory over the Texas Rangers in Game 4 on Thursday night.
Houston, which led 3-0 only four batters into the game, responded immediately after Texas got even on Corey Seager’s opposite-field homer in the third inning.
Adolis García also homered for the wild-card Rangers, who have dropped two games in a row at home after starting this postseason with seven consecutive wins — six on the road — that included sweeps of the AL’s two winningest teams, Baltimore and Tampa Bay.
Game 5 is Friday afternoon at Globe Life Field, where the Astros are 8-1 this season. This ALCS, in which the home team hasn’t led yet, then switches back to Houston for Game 6 on Sunday night.
Jose Altuve had three hits and scored three times in his 100th career playoff game. Alvarez drove in three runs, giving him 13 RBIs already this postseason, and Chas McCormick added a two-run homer.
Dane Dunning, who entered in relief in the first inning, had an 0-2 count against No. 9 batter Martin Maldonado to open the fourth with the game tied before walking him and then Altuve.
Mauricio Dubón followed with his second soft single of the game before Alex Bregman struck out with the bases loaded. Rookie lefty Cody Bradford then came in to face Alvarez, whose 401-foot sac fly to the warning track in center field came on the ninth pitch. Abreu then hit his fourth homer this postseason to make it 7-3.
Ryne Stanek got the victory while throwing only one pitch, inducing Mitch Garver’s inning-ending double-play grounder in the third.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 19: José Abreu #79 and third base coach Gary Pettis of the Houston Astros celebrate after Abreu hit a home run in the fourth inning against the Texas Rangers during Game Four of the Championship Series at Globe Life Field o
The Astros have outscored Texas 74-32 in winning their last seven games at Globe Life. That includes their 8-5 win in Game 3 of the first postseason series between the instate AL West rivals.
Altuve opened the game with a double and Dubón, after three hits in Game 3, followed with a bloop single off Andrew Heaney. Bregman drove both home with a triple into the right-center gap, and the Rangers already had Dunning up in the bullpen before Alvarez singled to make it 3-0.
Seager became the first shortstop to homer in both the NLCS and ALCS with his 401-foot solo drive to left-center with one out in the third. Astros starter José Urquidy then gave up back-to-back singles before Stanek took over.
The Rangers were down 7-3, but had two on with no outs in the fifth when a finger of Marcus Semien’s batting glove was the difference between a lineout and a crucial double play. The Rangers baserunner was sliding back to the bag at first base after Abreu snagged Corey Seager’s 108.6 mph liner, lunging to tag Semien just as his hand reached the bag, and first base umpire Jordan Baker signaled safe.
The Astros challenged, and the video review showed Abreu’s glove grazing one of the fingers on the batting glove in Semien’s back pocket as the finger popped into the air from the rear pocket. Texas had only two more baserunners after that play.
The series is now 2-2.
Game 5 will be Friday afternoon in Arlington. First pitch will be at 4:07 p.m.
Jordan Montgomery will pitch for Texas. Justin Verlander will take the mound for the Astros.
Game 6 will then go to Houston.
That game will be at 7:03 p.m. on Sunday.
Live Updates
Starting Pitchers ALCS Game 4
- Astros: RHP Jose Urquidy (3-3, 5.29 ERA)
- Rangers: LHP Andrew Heaney (10-6, 4.15 ERA)
Texas Rangers Lineup
- Marcus Semien 2B
- Corey Seager SS
- Evan Carter LF
- Adolis Garcia RF
- Mitch Garver DH
- Jonah Heim C
- Nathaniel Lowe 1B
- Josh Jung 3B
- Leody Tavares CF
Houston Astros Lineup
- Jose Altuve 2B
- Mauricio Dubon CF
- Alex Bregman 3B
- Yordan Alvarez DH
- Jose Abreu 1B
- Kyle Tucker RF
- Chas McCormick LF
- Jeremy Pena SS
- Martin Maldonado C
Globe Life Field Open The Roof
The MLB made the decision to open the roof at Globe Life Field on Thursday night.
The roof has not been opened since May 21, when the Rangers played the Colorado Rockies.
Since the stadium opened in 2020, the Rangers have played 44 games with the roof open. The Rangers are 20-24 in those games.
In 2023, the Rangers are 7-4 with the roof open.