The Astros finally got a hit with a runner in scoring position that actually scored a run and managed to hold on for a 4-3 win in Game 4. The season lives to see another day. Springer, Correa, Altuve, Bregman, and Gurriel played in their 54th postseason game together - the most by any five teammates all time. Game 5 is at 4:07pm Central on TBS.
*FanGraphs still has it 87.3-12.7 Rays. It's 90-10 Rays at FiveThirtyEight. I'm not so sure... Dusty:
Nobody's ready to go home. I'm not ready to go home. Nobody's ready to go home. We're ready to go to Dallas. We're still one step closer to the top of that mountain, but we got a couple steep cliffs the next couple days.
As of right now we don't know who's pitching for the Astros in Game 5.
*Jose Altuve: 2x4, HR, 2RBI. 100% successful throws to the bag. Altuve has homered in five of his last six postseason games (ALCS Game 2). Altuve, 2020 Postseason: .333/.447/.744, 5HR/10RBI. He now has 73 postseason hits, passing Roberto Alomar for most all-time by a 2B in postseason history.
*George Springer: 3x4, HR, 2RBI. They were his first RsBI since ALDS Game 2. Springer, prior to Game 4:
Just go out and play as hard as you possibly can. Go leave everything out there. Don't leave any doubt. If there's a play that you think you have to dive, dive...Your backs are up against the wall. And you got to grind and fight, and the end of the day, whatever happens happens.
Springer and Altuve have now homered in the same postseason game four times. The only other duo to hit a home run in more games is Springer and Correa (7).
Astros Postseason HR Leaderboard:
1. Altuve/Springer: 18
3. Correa: 16
4. Bregman: 11
5. Beltran: 8
6. Berkman: 6
Springer and Altuve's 18 postseason home runs are tied for 5th on the all-time leaderboard. Springer:
Sometimes it's frustrating to hit the ball hard in general and have a guy be there. But you know what? That's the game. I got to do better at kind of not showing a lot of frustration because it really is part of the game. You know, sometimes I'm going to get jammed and I'm going to sneak it in there, and there's other times we're going to hit one hard and be out. It kind of is what it is, and I'm happy to help us today.
*Zack Greinke: 6IP, 5H/2ER, 7K:1BB. More importantly, Greinke got himself out of a jam in the 6th Inning, a move that did not happen in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series. It was Greinke's first postseason Win since 2015 NLDS Game 2, when he was with the Dodgers. Greinke:
It was nice having someone have confidence in me because since I've been here they haven't seemed to have confidence in my ability. It was nice having that happen in an important time like that.
Dusty, on leaving Greinke in:
I can't lie to you. There were some prayers involved on the way back to the dugout.
Zack Greinke has made 30 (regular and postseason) starts for the Astros. He has gotten 18 outs in 17 of them. Greinke, on Dusty trusting his gut:
I would say he is really, really good at that. I've been impressed. He reads people really good, and I don't think I've ever seen him make a wrong decision. When he trusts what he sees, he sees the right thing almost 100 percent of the time.
Kevin Cash, on Greinke:
Greinke really, really pitched. He has a really good changeup. The changeup and the little cut fastball that he throws, there's not a ton of velo separation there, but there's a lot of depth separation. We got chasing on the changeup and the front-door cutters that he was throwing, cut fastballs to the righties, it looked like he was just painting, wherever he wanted to.
*Cristian Javier is the Astros' secret weapon.
*Tyler Glasnow: 6IP, 8H/4ER, 5K:2BB.
Glasnow, postseason, against Not Houston: 13.1IP, 9H/6ER, 20K:6BB. 4.05 ERA / 1.13 WHIP.
Glasnow, postseason, against Only Houston: 13IP, 17H/10ER, 13K:5BB. 6.92 ERA / 1.69 WHIP.
*McTaggart: Bregman's ready to put the Loud Outs behind him.
*Is Jeff Luhnow an option for the Angels' GM search?
*Sam Miller: Ranking the trades that got the Final Four to where they are.
*The Guardian: Author Bill Bryson says he's retiring. I would highly recommend you read "A Walk in the Woods," "Notes From A Small Island," and "One Summer: America, 1927."
*Will Leitch: Jeff Tweedy can't wait to write his next song.
*Mental Floss: Nine books that predicted the future.
*A Musical Selection:
