MLB Playoffs Live Blog: Thursday, October 19th

The Astros continue to be road warriors.

After dropping the first two games of the ALCS to the Rangers in Houston, they have now gone on the road and won each of the first two games there to even the series at two games apiece.

They’ll now turn back to their ace, Justin Verlander, who fell to Jordan Montgomery and the Rangers in Game 1 of the series. Montgomery has been outstanding throughout the postseason and will have an opportunity to turn the tide back in the Rangers’ favor on Friday afternoon.

All eyes will be on that matchup in Arlington, first pitch is scheduled for 5:07 PM EST.

Thanks for stopping by and following along with all of the action today!

Just when it seemed like the Astros’ offense had cooled off, Chas McCormick blasted a 392-foot (100.2 mph EV) two-run shot off of left-hander Will Smith in the seventh inning that increased the Astros’ advantage to 9-3.

The Rangers are quickly running out of time, and outs, to stage another comeback attempt here.

It looked like the Rangers were mounting a rally in the home half of the fifth inning, as Leody Taveras and Marcus Semien started the inning with back-to-back singles off of Hunter Brown.

Corey Seager then smashed a line drive to first base that Jose Abreu made a nice snag on, falling to his left and then tagged the batting glove hanging out of Marcus Semien’s back pocket as he was diving back into first base for a brutal rally-killing double play.

They still had a man at second base with two outs, but Brown retired Evan Carter on a fly ball to center to end the threat.

It’s still 7-4 Astros heading to the sixth.

Cody Bradford did his job, getting Yordan Alvarez out with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth inning. It took a nine-pitch battle, and he hit a 401-foot (110.7 mph EV) blast to center field — that wound up just short of the wall and settled into the glove of Leody Taveras for a sacrifice fly.

Had they escaped the inning at that point, they would have felt great about the situation. That’s not how it played out though. Jose Abreu followed by demolishing a 2-2 fastball for a 438-foot (109.0 mph EV) two-run shot that increased the Astros’ lead to 7-4.

The Rangers have already overcome a three-run deficit once in this ballgame, can they do it again?

As our good friend Sarah Langs of MLB.com points out, that blast made Abreu the first player in the Statcast era (since 2015) to have three home runs hit 430+ feet in the same postseason.

The Astros loaded the bases with no outs to start the fourth inning — as Martin Maldonado worked a walk, Jose Altuve followed with a walk and Mauricio Dubon poked a single into right field.

Dane Dunning battled back in a big way, striking out Alex Bregman to record the first out of the inning. Now he’ll give way to left-hander Cody Bradford who gets the Herculean task of attempting to retire Yordan Alvarez with the bases loaded and one out.

God speed.

The Rangers evened up the score in the home half of the third inning as Corey Seager launched a solo homer off of Jose Urquidy.

Urquidy then allowed singles to Evan Carter and Adolis Garcia before mercifully turning the ball over to the bullpen.

What started out as such a proming evening for the Astros has fizzled out in a hurry. All of the momentum is on the side of the home team.

The Rangers aren’t prepared to go quietly in Game 4 of the ALCS.

They got on the scoreboard with a bang in the second inning as Adolis Garcia crushed a leadoff solo homer off of Jose Urquidy.

They added another, as Mitch Garver walked, Nathaniel Lowe doubled and Josh Jung hit a sacrifice fly — before Urquidy struck out Leody Taveras to end a long and tiring frame.

We now have a ballgame, and Urquidy may not be long for it.

Unlike Andrew Heaney, Astros’ right-hander Jose Urquidy got his Game 4 off to a nice start on Thursday evening.

He retired Marcus Semien on a line drive to center, Corey Seager on a fly ball to left and rookie phenom Evan Carter on a pop out to shortstop to finish a perfect first inning.

The Astros lead 3-0 and will have the top of their order coming to bat once again to lead off the second inning against Dane Dunning.

This is not how the Rangers wanted to start Game 4 of the ALCS on their home field.

Andrew Heaney was lifted after recording only two outs. He surrendered three runs and is responsible for a pair of runners that are still on base.

Dane Dunning is being summoned to try to stop the bleeding. This one could get out of hand before the Rangers even come to bat.

The Rangers have yet to record an out in Game 4 of the ALCS, and they already trail by at least three runs.

Jose Altuve led off the game with a double and advanced to third on a single off the bat of Mauricio Dubon. Bregman then smacked a two-run triple into the gap in right center and Yordan Alvarez followed with an RBI single of his own.

It might be a long night in Arlington.

The Diamondbacks rallied against Phillies’ closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning on Thursday night. Needing just one run to take Game 3 and give them additional life in the series, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. worked a leadoff walk from the Phillies’ right-hander. He then swiped second base and advanced to third on an infield single off the bat of Pavin Smith.

Emmanuel Rivera — who failed in a key spot in the eighth seventh inning — struggled again here, bouncing into a fielder’s choice with the Phillies cutting down Gurriel Jr. attempting to score.

Geraldo Perdomo then worked a six-pitch walk — after falling behind 1-2 — to load the bases. That set the stage for Marte, who dropped his third hit of the day into right field to walk it off and send the Diamondbacks’ home faithful into a frenzy.

Now we have ourselves a series. The Diamondbacks trail 2-1, but they have momentum on their side heading into Game 4 on Friday evening in Arizona.

Diamondbacks’ closer Paul Sewald came on to work the top half of the ninth inning with the score tied 1-1 and the Diamondbacks facing a potential 3-0 deficit in the series.

He was tasked with facing the top of the Phillies order — and did so with relative ease. He got Kyle Schwarber on a fly ball to center and Trea Turner on a slow roller to third before issuing a two-out walk to Bryce Harper.

Harper swiped second base to get himself into scoring position, but it wouldn’t matter as Sewald struck out Alec Bohm on the ninth pitch of his at-bat to end the inning.

The Diamondbacks now head to the home half of the ninth inning with a chance to walk it off against Craig Kimbrel.

The Diamondbacks threatened against Jose Alvarado in the eighth inning, as Gabriel Moreno smacked a two-out double off of the center field wall and Christian Walker was walked intentionally, but it all fizzled as Alek Thomas grounded out to second base to end the inning.

To the ninth!

Kevin Ginkel came on and delivered a shut-down inning against the Phillies in the top half of the eighth inning — getting Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh on strikes before retiring Johan Rojas on a ground ball back to the mound.

The Diamondbacks will have the top of their order up against Jose Alvarado in the home half of the eighth.

The Diamondbacks’ bats finally came to life in the seventh inning. With their backs against the wall — facing a 2-0 series deficit and trailing 1-0 in Game 3 — they finally broke through against the Phillies’ bullpen.

Tommy Pham got it started with a leadoff single off of rookie right-hander Orion Kerkering. Alek Thomas came on as a pinch-runner for him, then dashed around to score on a game-tying RBI double off the bat of Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Pinch-hitter Pavin Smith followed with a single that put runners at the corners with nobody out. Emmanuel Rivera put a damper on the inning, grounding into a double play that Gurriel Jr. was unable to score on. Geraldo Perdomo then grounded out weakly to end the threat.

The Diamondbacks tied the game, but have to feel defeated after they failed to take the lead during that inning.

The Phillies had a major scoring threat in the seventh inning, as Bryce Harper drew a leadoff walk from Andrew Saalfrank, then Alec Bohm reached base on a 97 hopper to third base.

It looked as though the threat would be spoiled, as Ryan Thompson got Bryson Stott to bounce into a double play, but that advanced Harper to third base.

Two pitches later, Thompson uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Harper to race home with the first run of the game.

The Diamondbacks are really going to have their hands full in their half of the seventh, as Orion Kerkering is coming on for the Phillies.

The Diamondbacks chased Ranger Suarez from the game in the sixth inning, after Ketel Marte started the frame with a leadoff double and advanced to third on a ground out off the bat of Corbin Carroll.

That prompted Phillies’ skipper Rob Thomson to go to his bullpen, getting Jeff Hoffman to face Gabriel Moreno — who had driven in 72 percent (18 of 25) runners from third base with less than two outs during the regular season.

Hoffman won the battle though, getting Moreno on strikes for the second out of the inning. He then got Christian Walker on a ground ball to shortstop to end the inning.

It’s still 0-0 heading to the seventh, where it’s going to come down to a battle of the bullpens.

Brandon Pfaadt exited after working 5 2/3 shutout innings in the finest performance of his young career.

He struck out Brandon Marsh to start the sixth innings — his ninth strikeout of the game. He then retired Johan Rojas on a fly out to center before turning the ball over to the bullpen.

Andrew Saalfrank came on and walked Kyle Schwarber, then got Trea Turner to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Scoreless heading to the bottom of the sixth.

We’ve got ourselves a good old fashioned pitcher’s duel on our hands in Arizona.

Ranger Suarez answered Brandon Pfaadt with a scoreless fifth inning of his own, and we’re still knotted up at 0-0 heading to the sixth inning.

The left-hander got Evan Longoria to fly out to start the frame, then punched out Emmanuel Rivera and Geraldo Perdomo in succession to end the frame.

He’s got an impressive seven strikeouts through five shutout innings, throwing 41 of his 66 pitches for strikes.

It’s official, Brandon Pfaadt is absolutely dealing right now.

He needed just nine pitches to complete a scoreless fifth inning — getting Bryson Stott to pop out to second base, J.T. Realmuto on a fly ball to center and Nick Castellanos on a swinging third strike.

He’s up to eight strikeouts on the afternoon and has 16 whiffs on 60 pitches through five shutout innings.

The Diamondbacks have a fully rested bullpen, but it’s hard to imaging Pfaadt not coming back out for the sixth inning.

Ranger Suarez issued his first walk of the afternoon in the fourth inning — a one-out free pass to Christian Walker — but he fought back to strike out Tommy Pham and then got Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to ground out to second on a 3-2 offering.

Suarez has six whiffs on 53 pitches through his first four frames — three of them on his changeup

— while registering an elite CSW of 38 percent.

Whoever scores first in this game, may just wind up winning it.

Brandon Pfaadt plowed through the heart of the Phillies’ order without any difficulty in the fourth inning — striking out Trea Turner, getting Bryce Harper to ground out to second base and Alec Bohm on a fly ball to center.

He has now piled up seven strikeouts through four scoreless innings. He’s only at 51 pitches right now, and it’s going to be hard for Diamondbacks’ skipper Torey Lovullo to pull him if he keeps dealing like this.

According to the wonderful Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Pfaadt’s seven strikeouts are tied for the most of any Diamondbacks’ hurler through four innings in any postseason game in franchise history.

Just like the Phillies did in the top half of the third inning, the Diamondbacks smacked a two-bagger in their half of the frame as Ketel Marte lined a two-out double into the left field corner.

Corbin Carroll wasn’t able to cash him in though, bouncing out to shortstop to end the threat.

Ranger Suarez struck out Geraldo Perdomo for the second out of the inning, getting him to stand there like the house by the side of the road and watch a 3-2 sinker go bay.

Heading to the fourth, still zeroes.

The Phillies had the first scoring chance of the game in the third inning, as Brandon Marsh smacked a one-out double up the gap in right-center, but Brandon Pfaadt battled back to get Johan Rojas on a swinging third strike. He then got Kyle Schwarber to take a called third strike after a seven-pitch battle.

Pfaadt has been awfully impressive through three scoreless innings. He has fired 29 of his 44 pitches for strikes — including first-pitch strikes to seven of the 10 batters that he has faced.

He has also racked up 10 swings and misses in the early going — seven of those on his heater which has averaged 93.9 mph on the day.

The second inning wasn’t quite as kind to Ranger Suarez — as he surrendered a two-out single to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. — but he escaped the frame without any damage being done.

The inning included a strikeout of Tommy Pham on a called third strike that may have been juuuuust a bit inside.

Still scoreless in the desert, heading to the top of the third inning.

Brandon Pfaadt went right back to work in the second inning, retiring the Phillies in order to keep the game scoreless.

He did go to a full count on each of the first two hitters — Alec Bohm before he flew out to center and Bryson Stott before he struck him out — then needed five pitches to punch out J.T. Realmuto.

We’re heading to the bottom of the second, still scoreless in Arizona.

Phillies’ left-hander Ranger Suárez looks like he brought his good stuff on Thursday. He looked outstanding as he retired the Diamondbacks in order in the first inning — including strikeouts of Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno.

This changeup in particular that he used to get Carroll was absolutely filthy. If he’s going to keep dealing like this, runs are going to be at a premium.

The Diamondbacks’ rookie right-hander looked awfully impressive during his first inning of work against the Phillies.

He started the inning by striking out Kyle Schwarber on three pitches.

After allowing a ground ball single through the right side to Trea Turner, he got Phillies’ superstar Bryce Harper to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Here come the Diamondbacks.

The Astros have changed up their lineup a bit for Thursday night’s showdown against the Rangers in Game 4 of the ALCS.

With left-hander Andrew Heaney getting the start for the Rangers, Michael Brantley will begin the game on the bench. That means Chas McCormick will draw a start in left field for the Astros and will bat seventh.

The Astros have also moved Mauricio Dubon up to the second slot in the order, while shifting everyone else down a spot.

The one spot of contention could be Martin Maldonado, who has brutal numbers in his career against Heaney. Astros’ skipper Dusty Baker is sticking with his veteran backstop though instead of turning to the hard-hitting Yainer Diaz.

First pitch for this one is set for 8:03 PM EST.

Despite the fact that they came up short offensively in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Astros on Wendesday night, the Rangers will roll out the same lineup for Game 4 against Astros’ right-hander Jose Urquidy on Thursday.

While all nine players and positions are the same, the only minor difference is that Jonah Heim and Mitch Garver have swapped spots in the batting order, with Garver moving up to the fifth spot and Heim batting sixth.

While we await the lineups for Game 4 of the ALCS on Thursday night, let’s take a quick look at some of the potential matchups that those hurlers may face.

What’ll be interesting to monitor is how long the Rangers stick with Andrew Heaney in this one. The 32-year-old southpaw hasn’t pitched since Game 1 of the ALDS, where he allowed just one run on two hits over 3 2/3 innings against the Orioles. Heaney walked one and struck out one in that one – throwing a total of 56 pitches.

Historically, the Astros have hit him well.

Jose Altuve has hit .324 (12-for-37) with a pair of homers and three doubles against him.

Alex Bregman has hit .314 (11-for-35) with a long ball and a double.

Jose Abreu is 5-for-19 (.263) against him, but with four home runs and a double.

Yordan Alvarez only has one extra-base hit against the left-hander, but is still hitting .286 (4-for-14) with a double against him.

In a limited sample, Jeremy Peña is 3-for-8 (.429) with a double.

In fact, the only hitter in the Astros’ lineup that Heaney has handled in the past has been Martin Maldonado – who is just 2-for-15 (.133) with a pair of singles and eight strikeouts against Heaney. Perhaps Dusty Baker gives Yainer Diaz a start here?

On the other side of the diamond, the Rangers have had mixed results in their limited action against Jose Urquidy.

Marcus Semien has always hit him well – going 8-for-21 (.381) with three home runs and a pair of doubles.

Corey Seager has hit .333 (3-for-9) with a homer and a double off the right-hander.

Nathaniel Lowe and Adolis Garcia have each taken him deep, but have hit .222 (2-for-9) and .182 (2-for-11) against him respectively.

Leody Taveras has been baffled by Urquidy in his career, going hitless in 10 at-bats with four strikeouts.

Once again, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. The Phillies will deploy the exact same lineup that they used in victories over the Diamondbacks in each of the first two games of the series when they take the field in Arizona on Tuesday.

It will be the first time — at least in the big leagues — that any of the Phillies’ hitters have faced Diamondbacks’ rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt.

After trotting out the same lineup for each of the first two games of the series, the Diamondbacks have switched up their lineup with left-hander Ranger Suarez toeing the slab for the Phillies as the series shifts to Arizona for Game 3 on Thursday afternoon.

As is typically the case when the Diamondbacks face a southpaw, Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll have flipped spots at the top of the lineup, with Marte functioning as the leadoff hitter on Thursday.

Gabriel Moreno has been moved up to the third spot in the order, while the slumping Tommy Pham has slid down to the fifth spot.

Alek Thomas has been bumped from the lineup completely, with Carroll sliding over to play center field and Pham drawing a rare start in right field. That opens up the designated hitter spot for Evan Longoria while getting lefty-masher Emmanuel Rivera in the lineup at third base.

Already facing a 2-0 deficit in the series, the Diamondbacks need to come out and attack Suárez in Game 3.

Marte has had success against Suárez in the past, going 6-for-15 (.400) plus a walk — though all of the hits have been singles.

Christian Walker has also hit the Phillies’ left-hander well in the past, hitting .333 (5-for-15) with a pair of doubles, a triple and four walks.

Evan Longoria is the only member of the Diamondbacks’ lineup that has taken Suárez deep, as he’s 2-for-7 with a homer, double and four strikeouts.