Bronx, NY – It's over here at Yankee Stadium as the Astros win ALCS Game 4 over New York to take a 3-1 series lead. They will get a chance to close it out with a win in Game 5 Friday night. More on that in a minute.
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TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM THE ASTROS ALCS GAME 4 WIN
1 ZACK GREINKE SHAKY START THEN RECOVERED, BULLPEN DELIVERED
Greinke was shaky in that first inning when he walked three Yankee hitters and walked in their first run. It appeared that it would be a long night but he recovered and settled in nicely. Greinke went 4 1/3 innings giving up 3 hits, 1 run while walking 4. He also added 5 strikeouts. Then the bullpen took over and kudos to the group of Pressly, James, Harris, Smith and Osuna that finished up in the 8-3 win.
2 ASTROS PATIENCE WITH MASAHIRO TANAKA
The Yankees "Mr. Postseason" was not nearly as good as in game one. Tanaka again rarely used his fastball and instead went heavy curve and slider to the Astros hitters. He also mixed in splitters and in the Springer at-bat he held off on one split and then drilled the next pitch, also a splitter, out of the ballpark for his 13th career postseason home run. Tanaka went 5 innings, gave up 4 hits, 3 runs, walked a pair and had only 1 strikeout.
3 OFFENSE STEPPED UP WHEN IT COUNTED
The Astros finished the night with 8 hits against Tanaka and the relievers that followed. This Astros lineup though is so dangerous and can hurt you in many ways. George Springer had the huge 3-run shot in the third inning and Carlos Correa followed up with a 3-run blast in the 6th that made it 6-1. Michael Brantley led the attack with two hits in his four at-bats including an RBI.
So it is now on to Game 5 tonight and it couldn't be set up any better for Houston. Justin Verlander will get the ball and make his second start on full rest. The Yankees are down but certainly not out of this yet. They are on life support though and by late Friday night the champagne could be flowing inside of the Astros clubhouse.
Get a win and they get some well deserved rest before returning to the World Series for the second time in team history. That's set to open on Tuesday against the Nationals at Minute Maid Park.
