NEW YORK – The Astros socked a pair of three-run homers en route to a 8-3 Game 4 win over the Yankees in the fourth game of the American League Championship Series, pushing the Bronx Bombers to the brink of playoff elimination.
Houston is now one win away from the franchise's third World Series appearance. It would be the second appearance in the past three seasons. In 2017, the Astros also beat the Yankees in the ALCS.
After New York jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, George Springer put Houston in front with a three-run shot in the third inning.
PHOTOS: Astros take on Yankees in Game 4 of 2019 ALCS
Three innings later, Carlos Correa doubled Houston's lead with a three-run homer of his own.
The Yankees cut into the Astros' lead when Gary Sanchez hit a two-run homer to left field in the home half of the sixth.
All three homers in the game were hit to left field.
Houston added an insurance run in the eighth inning thanks in part to a pair of errors on the right side of New York's infield. The Astros tacked on another run in the ninth inning when Jose Altuve reached second base on an error, took third on a passed ball and was driven in on a Michael Brantley single.
The Astros lead the ALCS 3-1 and are looking to close out the series with Justin Verlander on the hill for Game 5 on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.
After a dominant Game 1 performance, Masahiro Tanaka looked human on Thursday, allowing three runs in five innings. Tanaka allowed four hits and walked two. He struck out only one Astros batter.
Zack Greinke shut the Yankees out after the first-inning run, but wasn't able to make it through the fifth inning, leaving him out of consideration for the win. Greinke allowed three hits and walked four while striking out five over 4 1/3 innings of work.
Ryan Pressly struck out two of the three batters he faced to finish the fifth inning, earning himself the win in the process.
Will Harris, Joe Smith and Roberto Osuna combined to throw three innings without allowing a hit to end the game. Only two baserunners reached over the final three frames, one on an Alex Bregman error in the eighth and the other when Osuna walked Aaron Hicks in the bottom of the ninth.