*Photo from the Houston Chronicle*
Series tied 2-2
Just like that, we're tied up here. Jose Abreu homered, Yordan Alvarez drove in 3 runs, and the Houston Astros trounced the Texas Rangers with a 10-3 victory on Thursday night in Arlington.
In the last 7 games in Arlington, the Astros have outscored the Rangers 74-32 and have tied the ALCS series at two games each, meaning the series will shift back to Houston for at least a game 6. Abreu and Alvarez were once again at the center of the Astros dominance, driving in a combined 6 runs.
Texas first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said of the Astros success at their park "They crush the ball here, man. I don’t have an answer other than that. Maybe it’s too nice in the visiting clubhouse and we need to maybe switch up the spread, leave something uncooked a little bit."
Alex Bregman gave the Astros an early lead, hitting a two run triple in the first inning. Alvarez then singled, scoring Bregman to make it 3-0 Astros. In the second inning, Adolis Garcia got the Rangers on the board with a solo home run to left field. Josh Jung hit a sac fly to make it 3-2 before Corey Seager hit a solo homer in the 3rd to make it a 3-3 game.
Houston took a 4-3 lead in the 4th inning on a sac fly from Alvarez. Abreu followed that up with a 3 run home run to left center field, making it 7-3 and breaking the game open. In the 7th inning, Chas McCormick hit a two run home run, making it 9-3 Astros. In the 9th, Alvarez hit an RBI single to make it a 10-3 final score.
McCormick said of Abreu's home run that "He’s been doing that, hitting the crap out of the ball for a while now. That's what we need if we want to win a World Series. It really helped us out because that was a tight game. For him to open it up like that, that was huge for us because we believe in our pitchers. It was big."
Getting the start for the Astros was Jose Urquidy, allowing 3 runs while pitching 2 1/3 innings. Ryne Stanek got the last two outs of the 3rd before Hunter Brown pitched 3 scoreless innings. Phil Maton had two scoreless innings and Rafael Montero sealed the win in the 9th.
Andrew Heaney only got two outs for the Rangers, allowing 3 runs. Dane Dunning allowed 3 in 2 2/3 innings, Cody Bradford allowed one, Will Smith allowed two, and Martin Perez allowed one. Chris Stratton was the only pitcher with a scoreless outing.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of losing two straight that "I always like my chances with this club. They've battled all year. We're playing a good team. Nobody thought it was going to be easy. I've been in this kind of situation where we have to bounce back. That's what we need to do. The Astros have played very well in this ballpark. We need to change that. We know it. But it's all going to be us pitching better and scoring some runs."
Game 5 of the series is on Friday night. The Astros look for 3 straight wins with Justin Verlander starting, with Jordan Montgomery starting for the Rangers.
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