In game four the Houston Astros beat the New York Yankees 8-3 giving them a 3-1 lead in the series. We got Zack Greinke vs Masahiro Tanaka. Of course with these two pitchers we got a ton of off speed stuff and they both lived up to not being able to go deep into games. I’m going to breakdown the game and include a few screenshots from the notes on my iPhone to give you my thoughts on the game.
Innings 1-3
Tanaka got through the first pretty easily. Jose Altuve did have a hard hit ball and Michael Brantley worked a walk. In the bottom of the first Greinke looked very shaky with a four pitch walk in to LeMahieu. With one out Hicks flipped a ball out to right. It fell in between Carlos Correa and the outfielders, I personally think the play should’ve been made.
I thought Greinke might have abandoned the fastball early as he couldn’t spot it. He walked the bases loaded and then walked in a run to give the Yankees the lead. Before Gary Sanchez came up and killed the Yankees rally.
Yuli Gurriel smoked a line drive to center to start off the second but his bad luck continued. Then Yordan Alvarez grounded out to Gleybar Torres who hot dogged it and tried to throw it away. This was somehow one of his best plays of the game on defense. Then Carlos Correa looked pretty lost at the plate to end the inning. Tanaka looked like he was settling in.
Greinke started off the bottom of the second with a one pitch out. He started getting the fastball over the plate. Didi Gregorius is actually putting some nice swings on the ball and singled to left. Then Zack Greinke gassesd Judge with a 91 mph fastball to end the inning. For some reason John Smoltz is obsessed with taking pitches. I’m debating on muting the broadcast.
Astros Take Over
In the top the third Tanaka walked the worst hitter in the Astros lineup on four pitches, never a good strategy. Then Josh Reddick singled moving Chirinos to second with George Springer coming up. Springer came up and absolutely smashed a baseball into the left field bleachers. The Astros are officially off and running. I absolutely love how Jose Altuve tries to go back to back every time someone hits a home run in front off him. I wish Branttley would’ve taken the chance to make it a 4-1 game. Their at bat ends with with them taking a 3-1 lead.
The other thing I wanted to point out was that the Astros are the best rundown team in baseball. They always advance the trailing base runners as far as possible.
As a pitcher the most important thing in baseball is to not surrender the lead immediately back, you see it happen way to often. The bottom of the third was going to be a huge inning for the Astros. It seemed like the umps strike zone really started expanding and Greinke started to settle in. Which was was pretty bad combo for the Yankees. Overall a pretty easy 1-2-3 inning for Greinke.
Innings 4-6
Honestly I was away from the TV in the top of the fourth but it must have been quick I don’t think I really missed anything. The bottom of the fourth showed how important it is to have aces in the playoffs. Zack Greinke looked real rough early on and settled in to take over this game. He went from 40 pitches after two innings to only having thrown 66 after four, Possibly putting him in line for a long start.
Tanaka pitched really well getting two pretty easy outs in the fifth. Michael Brantley showed how tough of an out he is. Aaron Judge pulled out a ‘Jeter Dive’ on his line drive and made a ‘great play’ in right. I think John Smoltz may have had to change his pants. I actually think Tanaka has looked good even though the Yankees were down through five.
After DJ LeMahieu singled to right and Aaron Judge walked Greinke got pulled, so I guess it won’t be a long start. Ryan Pressly got put in and looked super shaky right away. Then we get a Judge and Altuve height comparison for some reason. At this point I only have the sound on so I can complain about it in this article. Somehow Pressly got out of the fifth with two huge strike outs on Torres and Encarnacion.
Another Astros Bomb
To start the 6th Alex Bregman hit a ball off the end of the bat on purpose to fool DJ LeMahieu and reach first. Chad Green came in and got Yuli Gurriel to pop out. Then Yordan Alvarez finally got his hit, I thought he forgot how to swing a bat. After that Carlos Correa got into the box and launched another ball into the seats. Correa hasn’t played great in the playoffs, but when he’s had a chance to make big plays he’s come through every time.
Josh James came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and threw five straight balls, interesting strategy. Then Gary Sanchez, a guy who was a walking out so far, sent one into the bleachers for the disgusting bleacher creatures to fight over. After that it was a pretty easy inning for Josh James.
Innings 7-9
To be completely honest I just was worn out by how long this game was and how aggravating the broadcast team was. Some of my highlights were Alex Bregman hitting a double. Joe Smith is always a highlight for me, every bullpen should have a submarine guy. I loved seeing the Yankees defense completely fell apart. For a fan base that loved calling Zack Greinke a mental midget the Yanks really fell apart.
Overall game four was ok to watch. But I’m obviously all in on the Astros. Personally I love watching the Yankees lose but that game was crazy long with a horrid broadcast. Honestly I was very close to switching Louisiana Lafayette game but I wanted to write about this one, so I suffered through it, you’re welcome.
