The American League Championship Series has yet to see a road team win a game, and the New York Yankees hope to keep it that way on Wednesday evening against the Houston Astros in Game 5 at Yankee Stadium (5 p.m. ET, FS1).
New York evened things up with a furious rally to win Game 4 on Tuesday night, erasing a 4-0 deficit in the game for their second straight win, negating a 2-0 series deficit.
This is now a best-of-three series, with Wednesday giving us a pitching rematch of Game 1, with Masahiro Tanaka on the mound for the Yankees and Dallas Keuchel starting for the Astros. Tanaka took the loss in that one, allowing two runs in six innings, but has been very good in his last three starts, with a 1.80 ERA, 25 strikeouts and just two walks in 20 innings during that time.
Keuchel was magnificent in Game 1, striking out 10 in seven scoreless innings for the win, continuing his mastery of the Yankees. In eight career starts against New York, Keuchel is 6-2 with a 1.09 ERA in 57⅔ innings, with 62 strikeouts and eight walks. That includes 13 scoreless innings in two playoff starts against them.
The Yankees are 5-0 at home this postseason.
ALCS Game 5 time, TV and streaming info
- Teams: Astros (101-61) at Yankees (91-71)
- Series: Series tied, 2-2
- Time: 5 p.m. ET
- First pitch: 5:08 p.m.
- Location: Yankee Stadium, New York
- TV: FS1
- Streaming: Fox Sports Go
- Announcers: Joe Buck, John Smoltz, Tom Verducci, Ken Rosenthal
Yankees vs. Astros news & notes
Joe Girardi has managed the Yankees bullpen with aplomb, writes Joshua Diemert at Pinstripe Alley:
If a manager is going to make a move to the bullpen, especially in the postseason, it should be to bring out the best pitcher he has remaining. Given that there were already two out in the ninth, Davis becomes the obvious best chance to get out of the inning, and is likely still good to pitch the tenth anyway. Conversely, if he loses the game, at least you lose with your best man on the hill.
Joe Girardi, for all his other flaws and head scratching decisions, is determined to use his best man, and if the Yankees lose, it’ll be because the best man didn’t have it. In the second game of the ALCS, Aroldis Chapman was called upon to pitch in the bottom of the ninth, in a tie game. He was hit hard, twice, and lost the game, unlike the Cubs or Orioles, the Yankees lost with their best available piece in play. With the liberal use of both David Robertson and Chapman in the 2017 postseason, we can at least be reassured Girardi won’t be pulling a “Showalter,” or now a “Maddon.”
Houston led 4-0 in the seventh inning of Game 4, only to see their bullpen allow six runs for the loss. From Brian McTaggart and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com:
“I thought we had the game,” Gurriel said. “Our bullpen had been pitching well and doing the job, so I thought those three runs were enough for us to get a win.”