The Houston Astros look to tie the ALCS 2-2 against the Texas Rangers in Game 4 in Arlington. First pitch is scheduled for 7:03 p.m. and will be broadcast on FS1. Follow our staff for game updates and analysis:
The Astros go down in order for the first time in the third inning, giving Rangers reliever Dane Dunning a much-needed quick inning after increasing his pitch count earlier. — Greg Rajan
Stanek up
Dusty Baker had Ryne Stanek warm up in the second inning while José Urquidy was in foul trouble. Urquidy finished the inning with a 3-2 lead, but his lead may be too short tonight. Stanek sat back down before the end of the third period. — Matt Kawahara
A little closer
Josh Jung hit a sacrifice fly for the second time in the second inning, scoring Mitch Garver, cutting the Astros’ lead to 3-2. Jose Urquidy then struck out Leody Taveras to end the inning with Houston still ahead. — Greg Rajan
Texas threatens
After a 1-3 deficit, the Rangers are dangerous in the second inning against José Urquidy. After a walk against Mitch Garver, Nathaniel Lowe dropped a double down the left field line, putting runners on second and third with one out. — Greg Rajan
The gun situation in Texas
Dane Dunning, who replaced Andrew Heaney in the first inning, used 37 pitches to record four outs. Texas could be in a tough spot with its bullpen if Dunning can’t be more efficient. The Rangers used five relievers last night after Max Scherzer lasted four innings, including both Martín Pérez and Jon Gray. Reminders are their main option tonight. — Matt Kawahara
Rangers on the board
In his seven career postseason starts prior to tonight, Jose Urquidy allowed an average of 1.14 home runs per start. In his ALDS Game 4 start against the Twins earlier this postseason, he allowed two home runs, both solo, over 5 2/3 innings. Tonight, Adolis García led off the second inning with a solo home run against Urquidy, cutting the Astros’ lead to 3-1. — Danielle Lerner
So that they work
The Astros hitters advance in the count and put pressure on the Rangers. However, the Astros left two runners on in the second inning and failed to score even after two big moments on the basepaths: Jose Altuve was declared safe on a pickoff attempt at first base, and Yordan Alvarez struggled for one Single to deny the Rangers an inning-ending double play. But Jose Abreu scored on a fielder’s choice right after and ended the game.
In two innings, the Astros sent 14 batters to the plate and saw two 0-2 counts. Both belonged to Jose Altuve, who hit singles and doubles in his first two at-bats. — Danielle Lerner
The threat evaporates
The Astros put two runners on with one out in the second inning but were unable to score. It’s still 3-0 for Houston. Reliever Dane Dunning has already thrown 37 pitches after getting two outs in the first inning. — Greg Rajan
One thing done
In a promising start for the Astros, Jose Urquidy retired the team after 14 pitches in the first inning. — Greg Rajan
Opportunities galore
Martín Maldonado’s spot has loaded the bases in all four games of this series.
Game 1: fourth inning, strikeout.
Game 2: fifth inning, Astros pinch hit Yainer Diaz, strikeout.
Game 3: Second inning, two-run single.
Game 4: first inning, strikeout. — Matt Kawahara
Could have been worse
Dane Dunning minimized the damage for the Rangers in the first inning, ensuring the bases were full after hitting Martín Maldonado for a full count. Astros will take José Urquidy 3-0 lead. — Greg Rajan
Altuve clock
In the same play, Jose Altuve moved up on one postseason list and down on another. When Altuve hit Alex Bregman’s two-run triple early in the first, he tied Bernie Williams for second place with 83 career postseason runs, trailing only Derek Jeter’s 111. The two RBIs gave Bregman 52 for his postseason run career, moving him past Altuve (at least for now) for eighth place all-time. — Steve Schaeffer
Heaney gets hooked
Rangers starter Andrew Heaney is out of the game after throwing 22 pitches against seven batters. Five of them reached the base. This is reminiscent of Framber Valdez’s disastrous first inning in Game 2, but this time the Astros are on the other side of things.
Dane Dunning will take the mound for Texas. — Danielle Lerner
Big names deliver
The Astros’ stars shined in the first inning. Jose Altuve turned things up with a leadoff double, Alex Bregman hit a two-run triple and scored on Yordan Alvarez’s RBI single to make it 3-0. — Greg Rajan
Let’s go
That was fast. The Astros lead 3-0 with four batters in this game. Andrew Heaney threw 10 pitches. Each of Houston’s first four batters scored. Texas’ bullpen is already active. — Matt Kawahara
Stars in the crowd
Houston rapper Travis Scott, who performed a concert in Dallas on Wednesday night, is back for his second straight game. Houston Texans Ring of Honor member Andre Johnson is also here, wearing an Astros jersey with his name on the back. —Matt Young
Give the band a sign
The roof opens to the accompaniment of “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. Since it is not a quick process, different music is required. —Matt Kawahara
1-2 combination
A note on the Astros’ batting order: This is only the fifth game in which Jose Altuve and Mauricio Dubón have started first and second, respectively, in Houston’s starting lineup. The Astros have won three of those four previous games, the most recent being a 12-11 victory over the Rangers on July 3 at Globe Life Field.
Dubón went 4-for-18 with one RBI, four runs scored, no walks and three strikeouts while starting and batting second behind Altuve. Dubón is also 5-of-20 overall as a pinch-hitter this season and is the Astros’ second-best hitter. — Danielle Lerner
Darren Baker supports his pops
Darren Baker, the 24-year-old minor league utility player for the Washington Nationals organization, sat with his father, Dusty Baker, in the Astros dugout before the final two games here in Arlington. Of course, he made his presence known as a three-year batboy for his father’s Giants team when he was nearly run over at home plate during the 2002 World Series.
“He’s been going to the playoffs and the World Series since he was three years old, so he feels like he kind of belongs here,” Dusty said. “He is here to support me and the team. As a child, he always felt like he was a lucky charm. And he was pretty good.” —Matt Young
Disrespect for the map
A map of Texas greets fans as they enter the Rangers’ Globe Life Field. The map lists more than 60 cities and towns in Texas, but omits Houston entirely. Well played, Arlington. —Matt Young
At home in Arlington
To say the Astros’ offense has been successful at Globe Life Field this season is an understatement. Houston has averaged 8.9 runs and 12.1 hits in eight games at the Rangers’ stadium this year, including ALCS Game 3 on Wednesday. In eight home games against the Rangers, including ALCS Games 1 and 2, the Astros have averaged 4.3 runs and 5.3 hits.
“To be honest, it seems like we’re making more mistakes here,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Thursday of the discrepancy. “That’s what I see. When I look back at the games, we realize that we just didn’t manage to perform quite as well. If you go to the earlier series (at Arlington) in September, we made a lot of mistakes.
“They are a good club. They are a really good hitting club and they will take advantage of that. So I think we just need to get a little better at executing our pitches.” — Matt Kawahara
Baker’s mentor is ready for Hall
The man who inspired Dusty Baker to return to the Astros after winning last year’s World Series is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Contemporary Baseball Era managers/executives/umpires’ ballot for the 2024 induction class was announced Thursday and includes Cito Gaston, the former Blue Jays manager who led Toronto to back-to-back World Series championships in 1992-93. He was the first black manager to win the World Series.
Before making it, Gaston played 11 seasons in the major leagues. He was a teammate of Baker’s with the Braves, both in Atlanta and at their Class AA affiliate in Austin. Baker described Gaston as an important mentor.
“He really helped me, him and Ralph Garr, deal with life in the South, a little kid from California in the ’60s,” Baker said. “He took me everywhere.”
“And that’s why we talk quite often. That’s one of the reasons I came back, because I said I wanted to do the Cito Gaston, which means you went back to back. And that’s probably one of the main reasons I came back, because of Cito.” — Greg Rajan
Historic game for Altuve
Game 4 on Thursday marks the 100th playoff game of the career of Astros second baseman Jose Altuve. Only six other players have surpassed 100 career postseason games. A nice symmetrical fact: 50 of Altuve’s playoff games were refereed by Dusty Baker, the other 50 by AJ Hinch. — Greg Rajan
No open and closed housing
After MLB announced that the roof at Globe Life Field would be open for Game 4, Astros manager Dusty Baker said he was under the impression that the roofs at both teams’ stadiums would remain closed throughout the series.
“We were told there was an agreement that we would not open the roof at any location,” he said. “So I don’t know what changed.”
Baker said he was glad the Astros got a chance to practice with the roof open at Globe Life Field before Game 3. — Danielle Lerner
Andrew Heaney’s short leash
Andrew Heaney, the Rangers’ Game 4 starter, hasn’t pitched five innings in a game since August. In his only postseason appearance that year, he hit 3 2/3 and allowed one run in a win over the Orioles. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy expects similar length from his starter on Thursday. “He can do 75 or 80 pitches in that area, but we’ll keep an eye on him,” Bochy said. “We covered him in the bullpen.” —Matt Young
Michael Brantley sits
Mauricio Dubón, who had three hits in Game 3, moves to second in the Astros’ lineup for Game 4 opposite Andrew Heaney. Kyle Tucker remains in sixth place. Michael Brantley is not in the lineup against left-hander Heaney, with Chas McCormick starting in left field. —Matt Kawahara
Here is the full Astros lineup for Game 4:
Jose Altuve, 2B
Mauricio Dubon, CF
Alex Bregman, 3B
Yordan Alvarez, DH
Jose Abreu, 1B
Kyle Tucker, RF
Chas McCormick, LF
Jeremy Peña, SS
Martin Maldonado, C
José Urquidy, RHP
No worries about an open roof
The Rangers will play with the roof of Globe Life Field open for the first time since May 21 and just the 12th time this year. Rangers third baseman Josh Jung said he doesn’t expect players to notice much of a difference. “We haven’t had the roof open in a while because it’s so hot here in Texas,” Jung said. “It should be fun. You can look up and see the sky instead of the roof; that’s really the only difference.”
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy agreed.
“I don’t see any difference,” Bochy said. “It will be a wonderful night. It’s a beautiful baseball stadium with an open roof… But no, it won’t make a difference.” —Matt Young
Rangers lineup
The Rangers’ lineup for Game 4 has the same composition as their order for Game 3. José Urquidy did not face Texas in the regular season, but several Rangers hitters have experience with him. Marcus Semien is 7 of 18 with two home runs against Urquidy. Adolis García (2-11), Leody Taveras (0-10) and Nathaniel Lowe (2-9) are the other Rangers with double-digit plate appearances against the Astros’ right-hander. —Matt Kawahara
The complete Rangers lineup for Game 4:
Marcus Semien, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Evan Carter, LF
Adolis Garcia, RF
Mitch Garver, DH
Jonah Heim, C
Nathaniel Lowe, 1B
Josh Young, 3B
Leody Taveras, CF
Andrew Heaney, LHP
Roof open
The roof of Globe Life Field will be open Thursday night for Game 4 of the American League Championship Series between the Astros and Rangers, the Rangers announced. The Rangers last opened their roof for a home game on May 21st. The Astros and Rangers held their practice with the roof open on Tuesday, but played Game 3 with the roof closed on Wednesday night. —Matt Kawahara
Game 3 coverage
“This team doesn’t give up.” The Astros win Game 3 of the ALCS against the Rangers
Astros Insider: Martín Maldonado sets off fireworks for the offense with his breakthrough hit
Mauricio Dubón, “the ultimate teammate,” gets one start and three big hits
Solomon: As road warriors, Astros live the good life at Globe Life
Cold-blooded Cristian Javier uses a vicious fastball to stun the Rangers
Michael Brantley delivers another memorable song
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Game 1: Rangers 2, Astros 0
Game 2: Rangers 5, Astros 4
Game 3: Astros 8, Rangers 5