Astros 10 - 1 White Sox summary, score, stats and highlights: Division Series
Astros vs White Sox
Well, that brings us to the end of our live coverage of the ALDS Game 4 between the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros. Have a look at all of our MLB playoffs coverage on en.as.com
The final score in Chicago is the Astros 10 and the White Sox 1.
When you think of baseball dynasties, Houston might not be the first team to come to mind, but perhaps they should. They have built a fantastic organisation that excels on tight play and always focusing on the job at hand. They don't spend too much time celebrating the last win, they are already focused on the next one. And that extends to their on-field presence as well, they focus laser-like on the next ball, next out, next run, next play. And their success is a dynasty. Five in a row League Championship Series ties them with the Oakland A's of the 1970's and only three years short of the Atlanta Braves' record eight.
Jose Altuve, "We don't try to be heroes, we just try to win games."
On Friday, the Boston Red Sox will travel to Houston to face the Astros in Minute Maid Park.
For the 5th consecutive year, the Houston Astros are going to the American League Championship Series.
Hernandez comes up and hits a chopper to second, thrown out at first for the final out and Houston wins!
Garcia hits a fielders choice to second for the second out. One out away.
Sheets strikes out for the first out.
2 for 3 Gavin Sheets comes to the plate. If anyone can start a rally for Chicago, this is the man.
Eloy Jimenez pokes a single to right center. The Sox are not just going to lay down.
Houston brings on Ryan Pressly to close the game out.
Bregman watches strike three to get the White Sox out of the ninth. Houston just three outs away from the ALCS.
The Astros now lead 10-1 with two outs in the top of the ninth, but Brantley isn't done, knocking a single through to right field.
Jose Altuve puts the icing on the series with a three run shot that landed about ten rows deep in the left field stands.
Maldonado strikes out on a high fastball that clocked in at 99 mph for the second out of the inning.
McCormick draws the walk to have men on first and second.
With Gurriel on first, Tucker hits to Abreu who tries to turn the 3-6-3 double play but Tucker beats it out. Man on first with one out.
Hendricks takes the hill for Chicago in the top of the ninth to face the bottom half of the Astros order.
Once the excitement subsides, Graveman comes back to Grandal with a couple of breaking ball strikes before he grounds out to end the inning.
The umpires have issued formal warnings to both dugouts, but La Russa is still not happy about it.
Abreu has been hit by pitch 22 times this season - the fifth most in MLB
Tony La Russa is out of the dugout now. Graveman threw up and in on Abreu and hit him. The umpires are having a huddle.
Graveman was a former starting pitcher and every relief appearance helps his confidence, according to Dusty Baker.
Houston brings on Graveman to go to work on the top of the White Sox order.
The sun has finally poked it's face out and the crowd is getting behind their team as they get out of trouble to take the game into the bottom of the eighth.
The Astros are giving us a masterclass in how to win in the postseason; don’t strike out and use the whole field. All of their runs have been earned the hard way, no homeruns. Small ball, tough at bats, relentless pursuit of the next run.
Michael Brantley steals second and that one is definitely stolen off Kimbrel. No look to first, high leg kick. The catcher had no chance at all.
Brantley hits a single up the middle driving in the run from third. That will count as an unearned run. Astros are up now 7-1
So out of nothing, the Astros have a runner 90 feet away with only one out.
On a pitch in the dirt, Altuve takes third base. Grandal had no chance.
Altuve hits to short and Anderson's throw gets by Abreu, giving Altuve second base on an E6
Maldonado grounds out to short and is now 1 for 14 on the series. We go back to the top of the Astros order with Jose Altuve.
Taking the mound in the top of the eighth, the White Sox bring on Kimbrel to face the number nine hitter Maldonado who is 1 for 2 on the night, and only 1 for 13 on the series.
Anderson hits to short, where Correa elects to step on the bag for the force out to end the inning and we will head to eight, the Astros up 6-1
Ryne Stanek takes the mound for the Astros to face an 0 for 3 Tim Anderson.
Hernandez gets a two out single to right and Dusty Baker makes the walk to the mound. He takes the ball from Maton and that will be his day's work done.
Gavin Sheets hits a long foul ball that was in and out of Tucker's glove in right. Very close to an out, but also very close to his second home run of the night.
Bummer works through and gets the next two batters, Tucker on a fly ball to left and McCormick on a check swing, caught chasing a wicked curve for out three. We go into the seventh inning stretch with Chicago needing five, down 6-1.
Bummer walks Correa with one out and Gurriel gets on with a swinging bunt to give the Astros men on first and second with one out.
Luis Robert has left the game with right leg tightness and has been replaced by Adam Engel in center field.
He retires the side in succession: a routine ground ball to third, a routine fly to left and a five pitch strikeout.
Houston brings on Phil Maton to pitch in the bottom of the sixth.
Bregman strikes out and the Astros strand a runner on first but not before tacking on another run in the sixth.
Brantley gets his first hit of the night for another two out RBI. Astros lead 6-1
Bummer is brought on to get out of the sixth.
Altuve comes to the plate now and is 2 for 2 on the night witha base on balls when he was hit by a pitch. He pops out to shortstop for the second out. And that looks to be it for Tepera.
Maldonado sac bunts to move McCormick to second now with one out.
McCormick knocks a breaking ball that drops into center field for a lead off single.
Tepera goes to work in the sixth and Chicago have Bummer up getting loose in the bullpen. He is the last southpaw that they have.
Garcia gets the strikeout against Robert to end the inning.
Moncada hits to Altuve and is thrown out at first. His defensive issues over the season look to have been addressed as both of those were quick-release strikes.
He hits a chopper over the mound, fielded by Altuve for an out at first. He faced eleven pitches in that at-bat.
The White Sox need Tim Anderson on base if they are to get back into this game. He comes to the plate 0 for 2 on the night.
I think that it may have been a mistake to take him out this early. He showed no signs of struggling and could have concievably faced another two or three hitters.
McCullers has seen the end of his day and Yimi Garcia takes the mound for Houston here in the fifth.
Mercifully for the Chicago crowd, Tepera gets the side out in order.
Ryan Tepera is on the mound for the White Sox to start the fifth.
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He gets out of it with high heat and catches Hernandez looking. At the end of four we are 5-3
He works the count full and gets a walk on a low breaking ball. Down 0-2 in the count and he works it back for a walk. Tip your hat to a disciplined at-bat.
He doesn't hit breaking balls very well so it would be surprising if he sees anything else.
Garcia comes up 0 for 1 and takes a breaking ball strike.
Sheets puts a low fastball into the right field corner for a two-out double.
Six-four-three double play and we now have two outs and nobody on with Gavin Sheets coming to the dish.
We move into the bottom of the fourth and Grandal gets a single to lead off the White Sox order.
It's worth remembering though that Game 3 was in exactly this position with the White Sox down 5-1 and they came back to win it.
Bregman ropes a shot to left center and drives in two runs. The fourth inning is very costly for the White Sox and we are now 5-1.
Crochet fans Brantley on three sliders. His stuff tonight has got good movement on it.
Altuve slaps a single off the first pitch and that will do it for Kopech. Crochet is being brought in to face Brantley.
Katz makes a trip to the mound and Altuve comes up to the plate. Kopech stays in to face him, but he is clearly not comfortable on only one day's rest.
He was 0 for 12 coming into that at bat.
Maldonado gets his first hit of the series for and RBI and it is 3-1 Astros.
Ground ball to third and Tucker has to stay. 5-3 play for the first out of the inning.
Finally, the infield decides to play in.
With the infield playing back and Kopech one-looking him at second, that steal is on Kopech. There was nothing the catcher could have done about it.
Tucker steals third on the next pitch!
The White Sox get their second stolen base on yet another no-throw from the catcher.
Kyle Tucker goes inside out for a single to left and the Astros have another lead off batter on base.
McCullers deals with the bottom half of the third and we move to the 4th as Tucker steps in to face Kopech. Crochet is up in the White Sox bullpen so La Russa might have a few things up his sleeves.
He also says that Meyers arm "felt like it was going to come out" of the socket after the injury and he had to be taken out of the game to be checked out.
Dusty Baker says that Carlos Correa reminds him of Hank Aaron. High praise indeed.
Gurriel gets into a foot race with Kopech on a ground ball to first and is out by less than a couple of inches. About the length of the spikes on his cleats is how much he was beaten by.
Both of those runs were results of free passes. Hit by pitch and base on balls. This is a running theme from the White Sox in this series.
That will be it for Rodón. The Sox bring in Kopech to try and get out of this jam.
Correa knocks the third fastball for a double to left and scores two runs. 2-1 Houston.
Correa comes up with two outs and the bases loaded. First two pitches 98 mph fastballs. Rodón is giving it all he has left.
Rodón gives up his third walk to load the bases. There is finally some activity in the White Sox bullpen.
Rodón is certainly emptying the tank against Alvarez.
The Chicago crowd is on their feet, trying to will their man to get out of this inning.
The pregame talk was centered on whether we would get the power pitcher or the control pitcher in Rodón. He showed the power but in three it looks like his control is abandoning him.
Rodón looks to be struggling a bit as he loses Bregman on five pitches, giving up his second walk of the inning.
Altuve takes off and there is no throw from the catcher. Stolen base.
Brantley gets the pitch that he was waiting for and lifts it into center for the second out. He is clearly disappointed with himself.
Rodón hits Altuve with a pitch to give up his first walk of the game.
Maldonado fights off a few fastballs but ultimately goes down on a low slider.
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Martín Maldonado comes up in the top of the 3rd hitting 0 for 11 in this series and fouls the first pitch back.
Anderson goes down swinging for the final out. Not without damage though, as the Astros give up a run and lose their centerfielder. At the end of two it is 1-0 Chicago.
Hernandez gets away from him and McCullers gives up his second walk of the evening.
Back on the mound and McCullers makes short work of Garcia for the second out.
His left wrist looks to have taken the brunt of the impact. Chas McCormick is up and perhaps will come in. There is the signal from Dusty Baker. McCormick is in.
Centerfielder Jake Meyers goes down hard after impacting the wall trying to make the grab. It looks to be an impact injury on his left arm. He is being attended to on the field.
With one out in the bottom of the second, Gavin Sheets hits a bomb to straight away center field. 1-0 Sox
In the last inning, Chicago pitching coach Ethan Katz made a trip to the mound. He says that he "saw something that he needed to address"
Rookie Jake Meyers is first pitch swinging and flies out to right for the final out of the inning. Middle of two and we are scoreless in Chicago.
A tough at-bat, ending in a routine fly to left for the second out of the inning.
Kyle Tucker steps to the plate and looks to be perhaps trying to make Rodón work a bit more, not swinging at anything less than perfect.
Abreu catches a Gurriel foul pop up behind first and there is one down.
In the top of the second and Correa gets a slightly hanging breaking ball and dutifully puts it into left for a single.
Game 3's grinch in the eyes of the Houston faithful, Grandal, is sent back to the dugout on three pitches as McCullers works his way out of it.
After jumping out ahead of Abreu, McCullers lets him get away on six pitches and walks him.
Moncada singles to left and on the next pitch, Robert moves him along with a fielder's choice to 3rd. Now the Sox have a runner in scoring position with two outs.
The White Sox come out first pitch swinging as well as Tim Anderson flies out to right center.
In that inning, Rodón threw three pitches at 99 mph and four at 97 mph. Only the breaking pitches were under 90 and they each clocked in at 87-89 mph.
He gets Alvarez to chase the high heat and works his way out of trouble. The Astros strand a runner on third as we go to the middle of the first inning.
I guess the question of which Rodón the Astros would face today is being answered emphatically.
He fans him on a 99 mph fastball. Wow! He's bringing heat today.
Rodón throws a 97 mph fastball past Bregman. Maybe the rest did him well.
Brantley comes to the plate with a .308 average for the ALDS, and grounds out to second. Altuve manages to move to 3rd base on the play. 1 away
José Altuve doubles down the left field line on the first pitch of the game.
Rodón's go to pitch is the four-seam fastball, followed by the slider. These two make up over 70% of his pitches thrown.
The Sox are on the field and warming up. First pitch is just minutes away.
With the history between Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa, the managerial battle will be as much the focus as the pitching battle.
After yesterday's tornado watch, the Chicago area shows overcast skies and a fairly crisp 62 degrees. The blustery weather is more suited to the Bears than the White Sox!
On the Houston bench, they are betting the house on starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. He was moved up to pitch this game rather than José Urquidy who had been scheduled for Monday's start. McCullers will be on regular rest after posting 6 ⅔ shutout innings in Game 1.
Astros manager Dusty Baker on facing Rodón:
"It all depends which Rodón is present. According to our reports, you know, he hasn't been throwing quite as hard as he was before. But maybe the rest did him well. We'll see which Rodón that we'll be facing."
This is the fifth consecutive trip to the postseason for the Houston Astros, who went into Game 3 looking for to sweep the White Sox, but Chicago flipped the momentum and are now the bookies' favorite for Game 4.
Astros Batting Order
Jose Altuve (R) 2B
Michael Brantley (L) LF
Alex Bregman (R) 3B
Yordan Alvarez (L) DH
Carlos Correa (R) SS
Yuli Gurriel (R) 1B
Kyle Tucker (L) RF
Jake Meyers (R) CF
Martín Maldonado (R) C
White Sox Batting Order
Tim Anderson (R) SS
Yoán Moncada (S) 3B
Luis Robert (R) CF
José Abreu (R) 1B
Yasmani Grandal (S) C
Eloy Jiménez (R) LF
Gavin Sheets (L) DH
Leury García (S) RF
César Hernández (S) 2B
The Starting Pitchers
Taking the mound for the White Sox will be Cy Young contender, Carlos Rodón. This will be his first appearance in this post season, but his regular season outings saw him go 13 for 5 with a 2.37 ERA and posting a WHIP below one at 0.96
His counterpart for the Astros will be Lance McCullers, who has had one outing in Game 1 and through the regular season put up a 3.16 ERA on 13 wins and 5 losses with a respectable 1.22 WHIP
After the stick in Game 3 and the needle afterwards, these two teams will both be up for giving the other all they have in the tank. They are fairly evenly matched on the mound and with bullpens that are more than deep enough for whatever challenges these two teams may face, and now with the autumn weather closing in to the northern midwest, that delicate balance could shift ever so slightly in the White Sox’s favor. All in all, tonight’s game promises to be a real scrap.
Welcome to the live commentary of the rain-delayed Game 4 of the American League Division Series between the Houston Astros and the Chicago White Sox. With the series standing at two games to one, Houston is one win away from earning a berth in the American League Championship Series, while Chicago is in do-or-die territory. If the Astros win tonight, they will face the Boston Red Sox and if Chicago win, these two teams will draw level and move on to a fifth game in the Division series.