How the Astros Won Game 4 of the World Series – The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Alex Bregman held his bat in the air with his left hand and walked five paces down the first-base line, his head turned to watch the final landing spot of a baseball he had launched toward Capitol Hill.

The ball fell into the stands for a seventh-inning grand slam that erased any doubt the Houston Astros would beat the Washington Nationals, 8-1, in Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday night. Just as important, perhaps, the blast gave Bregman, Houston’s cleanup hitter, some of his missing swagger back.

The night before, in Game 3, the Nationals chose to walk Michael Brantley ahead of Bregman in the sixth inning. That loaded the bases with two outs, and Bregman grounded out. In the Astros’ dugout at the time, Carlos Correa shook his head, knowing that this insult to a proud hitter would most likely come back to haunt the Nationals.

Correa said he knew Bregman would be angry about the tactical move, and he predicted after Game 3 that Bregman would make Washington pay for it. Twenty-four hours later, Bregman did just that, turning a three-run game into a blowout that evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

“I saw that walk and I was like, ‘Oh, no, you don’t do that to him,’” Correa said on Saturday. “Because that’s what you get. A grand slam.”

When Bregman smashed his homer, the Astros were already ahead, thanks in no small measure to Jose Urquidy, the rookie pitcher from Mazatlán, Mexico, who was ushered into a starting role almost by default.

With his team short one starting pitcher and in need of a command performance — or at least four strong innings before handing things over to the bullpen — Urquidy gave the performance of his life: calm, resolute and stifling.

“He was incredible from the very beginning,” Astros Manager A.J. Hinch said, adding later: “He controlled the game. He controlled his emotions, and he was superimpressive.”

When Urquidy took the mound in a stadium packed with loud, expectant fans dressed in Nationals red, he became the third pitcher born in Mexico to start a World Series game, joining Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 and Jaime Garcia in 2011.

But with the aplomb of a veteran molded in the crucible of postseason play, he weathered the hostile environment and shut down a team that had scored 12 runs in Game 2. Urquidy used a variety of pitches and speeds to perplex the Nationals over five innings, and walked off the mound for good with a 4-0 lead, having allowed only two hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

Then it was Bregman’s turn.

The Astros third baseman had been fighting his way through a challenging postseason, which explains why the Nationals chose to pitch to him after the intentional walk on Friday. Heading into Game 4, he was batting .208 in 14 postseason contests and had just one hit in the World Series — a homer in Game 2. In Game 3 on Friday, he was 0 for 5 and left six runners on base.

But Game 4 was different from the beginning. In the first inning he laced a run-scoring single off Nationals starter Patrick Corbin to give Houston a 1-0 advantage, and then in the seventh he came to the plate with the bases loaded and the Astros looking to extend a 4-1 lead.

Fernando Rodney, the Washington reliever who walked Brantley before Bregman on Friday, was again on the mound on Saturday, and Bregman had a slightly different approach. He was looking to get the ball into the air, and he did, lifting an 0-1 sinker down the left-field line. The only question was whether it would stay fair — and Bregman stared with his bat held aloft until he was sure it was good.

“This game is a game of failure, and you’re going to fail a heck of a lot more than you are going to succeed,” Bregman said. “So the feeling that I had when I hit that was, I was pretty fired up.”

Bregman finished 3 for 5 with five runs batted in and stranded only one runner this time, a troubling development for a Nationals team that will now have to contend with Houston having one of its best hitters back in form.

Game 5 is scheduled for Sunday in Washington, but then the Series will shift back to Houston, where the Astros won 60 games in the regular season and are 5-3 during this postseason. So far, though, home-field advantage has meant little in this Series, as the visiting team has won all four games.

Sunday’s game will feature a rematch of the Game 1 duel between Gerrit Cole of Houston and the Nationals’ Max Scherzer, two aces who are expected to dominate whenever they take the mound. After that, it will be the Astros’ Justin Verlander against Washington’s Stephen Strasburg in Game 6, a resumption of the four-of-a-kind aces series that was promoted as soon as the Series contenders were set.

“With those four horses going, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Astros right fielder Josh Reddick said.

But Urquidy, a 24-year-old right-hander who had never played above Class A until this year and who did not pitch in the majors until July, was just as good.

He used a combination of his high fastball, changeup and slider, and occasionally dropped in a bottom-heavy curveball for big swings and misses, like the first pitch he threw to Ryan Zimmerman in the fifth inning. But he was also unafraid to challenge the hitters with power, as he did with Zimmerman in the same at-bat, finishing him off with a 95-miles-per-hour fastball.

He admitted to being nervous, but also said he took the time to soak up his surroundings.

“Yes, a couple of moments,” he said through an interpreter after the game. “A couple of moments I was thinking, ‘Oh, my God, I’m pitching in the World Series.’ It’s awesome.”

As the previously unheralded rookie vexed the frustrated Washington hitters, Nationals Manager Dave Martinez paced in the dugout. His players had performed so well in the first two games, but after Game 3, in which Washington went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 batters, he had lamented that they were too aggressive on bad pitches.

On Saturday things weren’t much better: Washington was 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base.

“We haven’t hit the last couple of days,” Martinez said. “But I’ve got confidence we’ll bounce back and be ready to play tomorrow. It’s just one of those things. It’s baseball, and it’s the World Series.”

James Wagner provided updates and analysis during Game 4, as it happened:

The Astros would have extended their lead to 9-1 if not for Juan Soto’s left arm. Robinson Chirinos doubled and tried to score on a single by Jake Marisnick. But Soto fired a strong throw home and Chirinos couldn’t beat it. In the bottom half of the inning, Chris Devenski finished the victory.

In Game 5, Gerrit Cole will start for the Astros while Max Scherzer will take the mound for the Nationals, a rematch of Game 1. Regardless of the outcome, there will be at least a Game 6 in Houston on Tuesday.

Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman each slapped singles off Javy Guerra, but the Astros couldn’t tack on any more runs. The Nationals threatened to mount a rally in the bottom half of the inning when Anthony Rendon reached on a throwing error by Jose Altuve and Juan Soto walked with one out. Peacock wriggled out of his own jam by striking out Howie Kendrick and getting Ryan Zimmerman to fly out to right field.

This is where the lack of a deep bullpen hurts the Nationals. A deeper relief corps could have kept the game within striking distance. But it all started to go downhill when Tanner Rainey — who, like Josh James, throws hard and strikes out many but also walks many — walked Kyle Tucker and George Springer to start the frame. He got one out before being replaced with Fernando Rodney.

Rodney coughed up a single to Michael Brantley and then threw a fastball low and in to Alex Bregman, who had been relatively quiet this World Series. Bregman kept his swing compact and direct, blistering the pitch over the left-field wall for a grand slam. It put the Astros ahead by 8-1 and, barring a meltdown, all but assured that the series would return to Houston for at least a Game 6.

Bregman held the bat out with his left arm extended as he started to walk out of the box, enjoying his handiwork. A small group of Astros fans in the upper right field deck chanted “M-V-P!”

The Astros used Hector Rondon and Brad Peacock in the bottom half of the inning, and pitched out of a jam with two men on base. Yuli Gurriel made a great diving play to stop a Trea Turner ground ball and he dived again to reach first base for the final out. Turner, who is exceptionally speedy, probably should have run through first base instead of diving, which slowed his momentum.

It was Corbin’s last inning, but also one of his best. He retired his ninth straight batter. He recovered from his miscues to toss six innings on 96 pitches, sparing the Nationals’ bullpen from more heavy lifting. Gerardo Parra pinch-hit for Corbin in the bottom of the frame. But will the Nationals be able to solve the Astros’ pitchers?

Astros Manager A.J. Hinch yanked Urquidy after 67 pitches. His spot was due up in the bottom half of the frame, so Urquidy could have kept pitching. The move immediately backfired for Hinch until Will Harris saved the day.

Josh James, the hard-throwing command-challenged reliever, walked Parra, struck out Trea Turner and walked Adam Eaton. Harris, a stout reliever who got five outs on 25 pitches on Friday, took over. He coughed up a single to Anthony Rendon to load the bases and then a groundout by Juan Soto scored a run to trim the Nationals’ deficit to 4-1. Harris then fired some good cutters to strike out Howie Kendrick and end the threat.

A much quieter inning all around. Corbin went 1-2-3 in the top half. Alex Bregman still isn’t swinging quite like himself. He got two balls from Corbin and then swung at a high fastball he probably should have let go by. He is 2 for 16 this postseason.

Urquidy is rolling. He fired 15 pitches to get a 1-2-3 bottom half of the inning. He has thrown just 67 pitches, continuing to spare the bullpen in the biggest game of his career.

Ruh-roh. Nationals Park got quieter when Robinson Chirinos smashed a no-doubt two-run blast off Corbin to left field to give the Astros a 4-0 lead. Corbin has not been particularly sharp. He walked Carlos Correa to lead off the frame. Then he threw a changeup right down the middle to Chirinos, who blasted it. He stood near home plate admiring his work for a bit, too.

Only three of Chirinos’s 17 home runs during the regular season were against left-handed pitchers. This was his second home run of the World Series.

Corbin is at 67 pitches and the Nationals will still need him to eat up innings and keep the score close.

Urquidy is making good pitches around the edges of the strike zone to neutralize the Nationals’ lineup. He pitched Anthony Rendon away, Juan Soto in and Howie Kendrick up and down. He threw four scoreless innings on 52 pitches, a big lift so far for the Astros.

Michael Brantley continues to power the Astros’ offense. He and Jose Altuve lead the team with seven hits each this World Series. Brantley singled with one out in the top of the frame. But Corbin got Alex Bregman, who has been struggling, to chase a changeup and struck out Yuli Gurriel with some good sliders.

Yan Gomes got the first extra-base hit of the game: a double to lead off the bottom of the frame. Urquidy escaped when Corbin put down a sacrifice bunt and Gomes couldn’t advance, Trea Turner grounded out and shortstop Carlos Correa made a nice play to nab a pop-up off Adam Eaton’s bat into shallow left field.

A much cleaner effort from Corbin. After needing 26 pitches in the first inning, he fired only nine to get through the bottom of the Astros’ lineup.

Urquidy is attacking the Nationals with a lot of 95-mile-per-hour fastballs and sliders. He has used just 24 pitches to get six outs. Even though it is a bullpen game for the Astros, Manager A.J. Hinch said this before the game: “I would love for Urquidy to go five, six innings, whatever he can do. And maybe we don’t have to use as many pitchers.”

The Astros’ plan against Corbin was clear from the start: Swing early in the count. They did so successfully in the first inning. Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel all notched singles within the first three pitches of their at-bats. The result: two runs, driven in by Bregman and Gurriel. Robinson Chirinos could have made it worse for the Nationals, but he grounded into an inning-ending double play started by third baseman Anthony Rendon.

Urquidy made quick work of the Nationals in the bottom half on 11 pitches. Rendon singled, but Urquidy got two pop-outs and a lineout.

Astros

1. George Springer, RF

2. Jose Altuve, 2B

3. Michael Brantley, LF

4. Alex Bregman, 3B

5. Yuli Gurriel, 1B

6. Carlos Correa, SS

7. Robinson Chirinos, C

8. Jake Marisnick, CF

9. Jose Urquidy, P

Nationals

1. Trea Turner, SS

2. Adam Eaton, RF

3. Anthony Rendon, 3B

4. Juan Soto, LF

5. Howie Kendrick, 2B

6. Ryan Zimmerman, 1B

7. Victor Robles, CF

8. Yan Gomes, C

9. Patrick Corbin, P

• The Houston Astros gave themselves a fighting chance with their 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals in Game 3 on Friday. Even though the Nationals still lead the series, two games to one, the Astros made a dent in the odds.

  Teams that hold a two-games-to-one advantage in the World Series have gone on to win the Series nearly 66 percent of the time (59 of the past 90 instances). The most recent examples of teams that held such an edge that went on to lose the World Series: the 2014 Kansas City Royals (falling to the San Francisco Giants in seven games) and the 2016 Cleveland Indians (falling to the Chicago Cubs in seven games).

• Jose Urquidy, the Astros rookie, will start Game 4. It will be a bullpen game for the Astros, so expect many pitching changes. He will be the third Mexico-born pitcher to start a World Series game, and the second to do so as a rookie. The first was the former Los Angeles Dodgers star Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.

• Even though the Astros are starting a rookie and plan to lean heavily on their bullpen for the second straight game, they may hold one advantage with their offense. Patrick Corbin is a strong left-handed pitcher; he went 14-7 with a 3.25 earned run average over 202 innings in the regular season. He has been less stellar during the postseason: 12 runs over 14 1/3 innings.

  The Astros were the best at making contact in the major leagues during the regular season, and they led in many offensive categories. Their lineup full of right-handers clobbered left-handed pitching: They were second in the major leagues with a .868 on-base-plus-slugging-percentage. Right-handed batters during the regular season versus Corbin: .704 O.P.S.

• The Nationals avoided using their best relievers in Friday’s game, such as Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson, which will allow Manager Dave Martinez to be more aggressive with them on Saturday. Catcher Kurt Suzuki left Friday’s game with a hip injury, but he was never expected to start on Saturday anyway, since Yan Gomes is often paired with Corbin.

• Key hitters who have been mostly cold at the plate this postseason: The Astros’ star third baseman Alex Bregman is 1 for 13 and shortstop Carlos Correa is 2 for 13, while the Nationals’ star third baseman Anthony Rendon is 2 for 13.