After reasserting themselves Friday in Game 3 of the World Series, the Astros turned in perhaps their most impressive game of the postseason Saturday in Game 4.
A starting pitching performance few could have predicted coupled with an offensive breakout from one of its key players led Houston to an 8-1 rout in Washington, evening the series at two games apiece.
Game 5 will be at Nationals Park on Sunday, with series-opening starters Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer set to take the mound again. The first pitch is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET.
Three takeaways from Astros' Game 4 World Series win over Nationals
Urquidy cleans up
Most expected Saturday to be a bullpen game for the Astros, with Jose Urquidy merely the first to get the ball, but the rookie ended up outshining every other starter in a pair of star-studded rotations.
The 24-year-old went five scoreless innings in his first postseason start — and only the eighth of his MLB career overall. That workload matched Max Scherzer's from Game 1 and represented one more out than Zack Greinke recorded in Game 3.
And it wasn't just the unexpected length, it was the quality. Urquidy allowed only a single to Anthony Rendon and a double to Yan Gomes while striking out four and generally kept Washington's lineup off balance across the board, retiring the last nine hitters he faced.
A.J. Hinch undoubtedly walked into the dugout before Game 4 ready to go to his bullpen early and often, but Urquidy's heroics rendered that unnecessary and could pay off for the Houston relief corps in Game 5 and beyond.
Bregman is back
It's no secret the Astros have ridden their pitching to this point in the postseason, with their offense doing just enough to get by.
Alex Bregman's struggles at the plate had been a big reason for that. While the AL MVP candidate had at least one hit in each of the five Division Series games against the Rays, he entered Game 4 in a 4-for-31 drought (.129) in the ALCS and World Series.
But Bregman broke out in a big way Saturday, with his first-inning single driving in the Astros' first run and his seventh-inning grand slam off Fernando Rodney serving as the dagger that evened the series. He added a lined single to left in the eighth to cap off a bounceback game.
Alexander the grand. #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/LLAuXtozj8
— MLB (@MLB) October 27, 2019
The last thing the Nationals wanted to see was Bregman in a groove, and it certainly appears he's finding his way back into one now.
We're in for quite a finish
Given the abundance of talent on the Houston roster, most of which was around for the run to the title two years ago, not many counted the Astros out after they became the first team in 20 years to drop the first two games of the World Series at home.
Now that they have maintained the road team's perfect record in the series, we're set up for what should be a fascinating best-of-three to determine a champion.
It's difficult to dream up better pitching matchups than Cole vs. Scherzer and Justin Verlander vs. Stephen Strasburg in the next two games, even if none of that quartet turned in a vintage outing in his first start of the series. Should things get to a Game 7, the Astros certainly would be favored at home with Greinke on the mound, but we've got a long way to go before we get to that point.
In the meantime, the Nationals will have to find a way to get their bats heated up again after going 1 for 19 with runners in scoring position in their two home games. But simply getting runners to second and third figures to be awfully difficult with Cole and Verlander in the way.
