The Latest: Astros pound Nats 8-1, even World Series 2-2

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This article was published 26/10/2019 (2476 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON – The Latest on Game 4 of the World Series (all times local):

11:57 p.m.

Houston and Washington are all even in a World Series that has been one big road show.

Alex Bregman busted out of his slump with a go-ahead single in the first inning and grand slam in the seventh, and the resurgent Astros routed the Nationals 8-1 on Saturday night.

José Urquidy outpitched all those big-name aces who preceded him, the unheralded Houston rookie quieting Washington’s bats and the Nationals Park crowd, too. He combined with five relievers on a four-hitter.

Game 1 winner Max Scherzer takes the mound Sunday, hoping to get a home Series victory for Washington for the first time since the Senators at Griffith Stadium in 1933. In a rematch of the opener, Gerrit Cole goes for Houston after losing for the first time since May.

Visiting teams haven’t won the first four games since 1996, when the Yankees broke the pattern in Game 6 against Atlanta to take the title.

Game 6 will be Tuesday in Texas, where the Astros lose their road-field advantage.

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11:37 p.m.

Brad Peacock worked a scoreless eighth inning and the Houston Astros are three outs away from evening the World Series at 2-2.

The Astros lead the Washington Nationals 8-1 in Game 4.

If Houston wins, it would be the fifth time in World Series history the road team has won the first four games, and the first since 1996, when the New York Yankees dropped the first two games to the Atlanta Braves before winning four straight.

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11:17 p.m.

The Houston Astros lead the Washington Nationals 8-1 after seven innings of Game 4 and the World Series is on its way to being tied 2-2.

Alex Bregman’s grand slam appeared to put the game out of reach. The Nationals used three pitchers to get through the seventh as Houston sent 10 men to the plate. Fernando Rodney gave up Bregman’s bomb as manager Dave Martinez opted against using his most reliable relievers, Daniel Hudson or Sean Doolittle.

Five Houston pitchers have held Washington to four hits.

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10:38 p.m.

Alex Bregman hit the 20th grand slam in World Series history, giving the Houston Astros an 8-1 lead over the Washington Nationals in Game 4.

Bregman hit a deep drive just inside the left-field foul pole off Fernando Rodney in the seventh inning.

It was the first World Series grand slam since Addison Russell’s in Game 6 for the Chicago Cubs in 2016, and just the third in the past two decades.

Bregman had been slumping since the start of the AL Championship Series but is 2-for-4 with five RBIs in Game 4. The Astros are seeking to even the series at two games apiece.

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10:19 p.m.

Juan Soto drove in the Nationals’ first run with a groundout, but Washington wasted its best chance at a big inning in Game 4 against the Astros.

Houston leads 4-1 after six innings.

Astros manager AJ Hinch lifted dominant starter José Urquidy after five innings, and the Nationals immediately put pressure on Houston’s bullpen.

Two walks and an infield single loaded the bases with one out for Soto, who grounded the first pitch from Will Harris to first to score Gerardo Parra.

Harris then struck out Howie Kendrick to end the threat.

Washington starter Patrick Corbin worked six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits.

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9:50 p.m.

José Urquidy has retired the last nine batters he’s faced for the Houston Astros, who lead the Washington Nationals 4-0 after five innings of Game 4.

Urquidy has allowed two hits and thrown 67 pitches, 45 for strikes.

His strong start represents a dream scenario for Astros manager AJ Hinch, who was planning for the possibility of a bullpen day. Gerrit Cole will start Game 5 on full rest against Washington’s Max Scherzer.

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9:31 p.m.

Robinson Chirinos homered for the second consecutive night, taking Patrick Corbin deep to left on a hanging slider to give the Houston Astros a 4-0 lead after four innings of Game 4.

Chirinos is the only player to homer for either team thus far at Nationals Park. The Astros are seeking to even the series at two games apiece. The road team won each of the first three games.

Corbin has allowed four runs on seven hits through four innings, the second consecutive shaky start for the Nationals, who relied on starting pitching to storm their way into their first-ever World Series after making the playoffs as a wild card.

Astros starter José Urquidy has outshined Houston’s big-name trio of Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke thus far, allowing two hits in four innings.

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9:09 p.m.

José Urquidy is looking less like an “opener” and more like a conventional starting pitcher for the Astros.

Urquidy worked around a leadoff double from Yan Gomes to keep the Nationals scoreless through three innings in Game 4. He has allowed two hits and thrown 30 of his 38 pitches for strikes. The Astros lead 2-0.

Houston manager AJ Hinch said he didn’t necessarily consider Game 4 to be a bullpen day because he was hoping Urquidy could go five or six innings.

In the top half, Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon made a diving stop of José Altuve’s one-hopper down the left-field line. Rendon, an MVP candidate, has handled four hard-hit grounders through three innings to help out starter Patrick Corbin.

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8:46 p.m.

Patrick Corbin settled down in the second inning for the Nationals, using nine pitches to retire the Astros in order on three groundouts.

José Urquidy retired the Nationals in order in the bottom half, with two strikeouts.

Houston leads Washington 2-0 after two innings of Game 4. The Astros are seeking to even the series at two games apiece and guarantee a return trip to Houston for Game 6.

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8:32 p.m.

Slumping Alex Bregman came through for the Astros, one of five consecutive batters to reach base in the first inning as Houston took a 2-0 lead over the Washington Nationals in Game 4 of the World Series.

Houston lost the first two games at home and was seeking to even the series after winning Friday night in Washington.

Bregman was 4-for-31 since the start of the AL Championship Series before he lined the first pitch from Patrick Corbin to left-centre to score José Altuve. Yuli Gurriel followed with an infield single to bring Michael Brantley home.

Corbin got out of the inning with a double-play grounder from Robinson Chirinos.

Astros starter José Urquidy allowed a two-out single to Anthony Rendon in an uneventful bottom half.

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7:58 p.m.

Former Washington Senators great Frank Howard got a big ovation when he was recognized on the field before Game 4 of the World Series.

The 83-year-old Howard, nicknamed “Hondo,” was the best offensive player on a series of mostly terrible Washington Senators teams from 1965 to 1971, the franchise’s last year in Washington. He hit 382 homers in 16 major league seasons.

Baseball did not return to the nation’s capital until 2005, when the Montreal Expos relocated and became the Nationals.

Janyia Freeman, a young scholar-athlete from the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The academy brings baseball and softball to underserved youth in Washington.

The U.S. Army Brass Quintet performed the national anthem.

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7:22 p.m.

Aroldis Chapman says he has not yet decided whether to opt out of the final two years of his contract with the New York Yankees, which guarantees $30 million.

Chapman was at the World Series on Saturday to receive the AL Reliever of the Year award from Mariano Rivera. Milwaukee’s Josh Hader got the NL honour from Trevor Hoffman.

Traded by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs in July 2016, Chapman returned to the Yankees as a free agent that December for an $86 million, five-year deal that included $15 million salaries in 2020 and ’21.

The 31-year-old left-hander received the award a week after allowing a pennant-winning home run to Houston’s José Altuve in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series.

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5:31 p.m.

Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki was out of the starting lineup for Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday night after injuring his right hip flexor.

Suzuki had not been expected to start with left-hander Patrick Corbin on the mound for Washington. Yan Gomes has been Corbin’s personal catcher all season. But Suzuki’s availability for the rest of the series is in question.

Suzuki was pinch hit for in the sixth inning of Washington’s 4-1 loss to Houston on Friday, which pulled the Astros to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Gomes is 2 for 10 with one RBI in the World Series.

Raudy Reed and Tres Barrera are the other catchers on Washington’s 40-man roster.

NL Championship Series MVP Howie Kendrick was back in the Nationals’ starting lineup at second base, a night after Asdrúbal Cabrera was at second. Kendrick pinch hit and singled in the eighth inning of Game 3. The designated hitter in Houston, Kendrick has three errors in the post-season.

With no DH, rookie Yordan Álvarez remained out of the Astros’ starting lineup. George Springer moved from centre field to right, Jake Marisnick started in centre and Josh Reddick moved to the bench.

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