ALCS Game 4, Astros vs. Yankees: Highlights, recap and more

The New York Yankees beat the Houston Astros 6-4 in Game 4 of the 2017 ALCS in New York.

If you thought you’d seen it all, think again. Game 4 of the ALCS between the Astros and Yankees had just about everything. Double reviews, an unlikely pitchers duel, a catcher’s interference, six-straight runs — everything. Even though New York’s offense looked incapable of doing anything; the bats eventually came alive. The Bronx Bombers ended the game with six unanswered runs, and took the game 6-4 and tied up the series.

Early on, it was a battle of pitchers. Lance McCullers Jr. and Sonny Gray duked it out through five innings before Gray was replaced in the sixth. Gray, who allowed one hit, got into a jam thanks to a walk and a catcher’s interference. Unfortunately for New York, reliever David Robertson was not able to work his usual magic. He walked Altuve to begin his outing and the Yankees were unable to get out of the jam as Yuli Gurriel cleared the bases with a 3-RBI double. Furthermore, the Astros continued to put runs on the board, courtesy of Starlin Castro. The Yankees second baseman had two errors on the night, resulting in a Houston run in the seventh. McCann hit a slow roller to Castro and when Castro misplayed the ball, he fell back allowing Marwin Gonzalez to score from second.

When all hope looked lost for New York, it was their MVP that stepped up. Aaron Judge began the seventh inning with a moonshot to straightaway center field, his second homer in as many nights. Even though it was just his second hit allowed, McCullers’ night came to an end following Judge’s monster dinger. And boy did Judge’s solo shot wake the Yankees up. The very next at-bat, Didi Gregorius lined one into left centerfield for a triple. Sanchez, who followed Gregorius, knocked in his shortstop with a sacrifice fly. However, that was all New York was able to do in the seventh.

But, the eighth inning was a different story. The Bronx Bombers came alive as Todd Frazier and Chase Headley got on base with no outs. Brett Gardner knocked in Frazier and Judge came up big for a second time, knocking in Jacoby Ellsbury (Headley’s pinch runner) with a double off the wall. Four runs weren’t enough for New York, however. The Yankees continued to pile on as Gary Sanchez hit a double into the gap, scoring Judge and Gregorius. Albeit maximum damage done, Astros reliever Luke Gregerson stopped the bleeding and took the game into the ninth with the Astros down 6-4. In the end, the Bronx Bombers proved too much for Houston.

Three Stars

1. Aaron Judge: The Yankees rookie came through when New York needed it most. Trailing by four, Judge started things off with a solo shot and rounded out the comeback with a double to tie the game.
2. Sonny Gray: Even though Joe Girardi had minimal confidence in Gray, he delivered. After a horrendous outing last game, Gray impressed throwing 5IP, 1H, 1ER, 2BB, 4K.
3. Gary Sanchez: After a mediocre showing in the series thus far, Sanchez came up huge in the clutch. Sanchez’s double to the gap gave New York a lead heading into the ninth.

Highlights

https://twitter.com/astros/status/920388265697595393

https://twitter.com/astros/status/920410485274693632

https://twitter.com/Yankees/status/920443135309832192

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Next game

The Yankees and Astros meet up again in Game 5 of the ALCS from the Bronx. FS1 will broadcast Game 5 of the 2017 ALCS with first pitch slated for 5:08 p.m. ET on Wednesday from Yankee Stadium. Above all, Game 5 is set to be the most important game of each team’s season. The series is knotted at two-a-piece, winner of Game 5 takes the series lead back to Houston.