The Houston Astros weren’t getting out of the postseason – not if Jose Altuwe and George Springer had anything to say about it.
In this ALCS, Altuwe, whose mistakes led Tampa Bay Rays to win two games so far, was one of the heroes of Game 4, as the Astros were knocked out 4-3. He entered the first inning and RBI was double in the third inning.
After Ray tied the game to Randy Arozare’s homer, Springer jumped in and played the playoff hero again. Springer is no stranger to big homers in the postseason and this time he blasted a go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth inning.
And from Blast, we mean this:
That was the eager answer for the Astros, who hit the ball in the series, but didn’t come often when the runners were in scoring position. They put most of the parts well, but were damaged by mistakes and a big homer.
Sending Zack Greenke to the mound is not a sure thing. He was damaged in the plaques and is not very effective, but he was present on Wednesday night. Greenke threw six innings, seven outs and gave up just two runs on Arozarena’s home run.
An important moment came in the sixth when Dusty Baker looked ready to take Greenwick out on the plane after a series of singles with Arozarena. Greenk stayed in it and struck out Arozarena, then made G-Man Choi to load the base, Greenk hit Mike Broso to end the inning.
Grest then turned to Astros rookie Christian Javier – one of his potential Game 5 starters, that soon – and he landed the ball in the ninth inning before turning it closer to Ryan Presley. Ray faced a run with two outs in the ninth, but the game ended with Willie Adams stuck on third base.
After a short hiatus, Altuwe created virtually the same play he had asked for in Game 3 for a second game in the ninth. All of that, a bit of a relief for the Astros.
After his mistakes in games 2 and 3, everyone hit the poles on the alt ltv. So let us give the man here his due amount. He responded by sending Tyler Glass’s pitch to the seats in the first inning.
The Astros can survive to play another game, but the stakes remain the same – they lose and go home in 5 games. Both teams haven’t announced a starter yet, but this is where things get interesting. Usually in playoff f game 5, we are starting to see the top-rot f-the-rotation starter for the second time in the series. It is not necessary at this time, that there are no holidays in this bubble format. Javier may have been a starter for Houston, but they burned him out in Game 4.
This is where we begin to see managers become a little more creative with their pitching strategy – or send someone out on a short break.
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