ARLINGTON, Texas — Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker and third baseman Alex Bregman really have no explanation for why their team has been so good in that other retractable-roof stadium in Texas.
“I have no clue, to be honest with you,” Bregman said. “But I think the focus has been really good in that clubhouse.”
They do know the 250-mile trip north and another high-scoring output on the road against the Texas Rangers has pulled the Astros even in the American League Championship Series.
José Abreu hit a three-run homer just after Yordan Alvarez’s go-ahead sacrifice fly, and the Astros rolled to a 10-3 victory in Game 4 on Thursday night. They led 3-0 only four batters into the game, and they responded immediately after Texas tied it on Corey Seager’s opposite-field homer in the bottom of the third inning.
Adolis García also homered for the wild-card Rangers, who have dropped two games in a row at home after starting this postseason with seven consecutive wins, including six on the road. That included sweeps of the AL’s top two teams from the regular season, the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays.
“Nobody thought it was going to be easy,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “They have played very well in this ballpark. We need to change that.”
Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is Friday afternoon at Globe Life Field, where reigning World Series champion Houston is 8-1 this season. The home team has yet to lead in this ALCS, which switches back to Houston’s Minute Maid Park for Game 6 on Sunday night.
“They keep asking me that same question,” Baker said about his team’s success in Arlington. “I’ve got the same answer: I don’t know.”
Jose Altuve had three hits in the 100th postseason game of his MLB career and scored three runs for a record sixth time. Alvarez drove in three, giving him 13 RBIs already this postseason, and Chas McCormick added a two-run homer.
“It makes it even more special because we won,” said Altuve, the seventh MLB player to appear in 100 postseason games. “Nothing’s done yet, but to be able to get the opportunity to come back and tie the series … it’s really important for us.”
The Astros have outscored Texas 74-32 in winning their last seven games at Globe Life. They won 8-5 in Game 3 of the first postseason series between the in-state AL West Division rivals.
“They crush the ball here, man. I don’t have an answer other than that,” Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said. “Maybe it’s too nice in the visiting clubhouse and we need to maybe switch up the spread, leave something uncooked a little bit.”
AL West champion Houston has won 18 of its past 21 road games overall, including a three-game sweep of Texas during the first week of September, when the Astros homered 16 times and outscored the Rangers 39-10.
AP photo by Julio Cortez / The Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez hits an RBI single against the Texas Rangers during the first inning of Game 4 of the AL Championship Series on Thursday night in Arlington.Dane Dunning, who entered in relief for Texas in the first inning, had an 0-2 count against No. 9 batter Martin Maldonado to open the fourth with the game tied before walking him and then Altuve. Mauricio Dubón followed with his second soft single of the game before Bregman struck out with the bases loaded.
Rookie lefty Cody Bradford came on, and Alvarez hit his ninth pitch 401 feet to the warning track in center field for a sacrifice fly. Abreu’s fourth homer this postseason made it 7-3.
“I went up there, I needed a great swing, thankfully the pitch was where I wanted it to be,” Abreu said through a translator.
Ryne Stanek got the win, throwing only one pitch after replacing starter José Urquidy in the third. Stanek threw a slider to induce Mitch Garver’s inning-ending double-play grounder.
“Wild,” Stanek said. “It’s something that you only even notice it way after. … You’re just going to go out and do my job, and by circumstance I happen to get a win.”
Altuve opened the game with a double and Dubón, after three hits in Game 3, followed with a bloop single off Andrew Heaney. Bregman drove both home with a triple into the right-center gap, and the Rangers already had Dunning up in the bullpen before Alvarez singled to make it 3-0.
The Rangers were still down 7-3, but they had two on with no outs in the fifth when a finger of Marcus Semien’s batting glove was the difference between a lineout and a crucial double play. The Rangers runner was sliding back to first base after Abreu snagged Seager’s 108.6 mph liner, lunging to tag Semien just as his hand reached the bag, and first base umpire Jordan Baker signaled safe. The Astros challenged, and the call was overturned.
The roof was open for a game at Globe Life Field for the first time since May 21. It was 78 degrees under clear skies when the game began. Texas was 7-4 during the regular season with the roof open.
Game 5 will be a rematch of the pitchers who started the series opener. Rangers left-hander Jordan Montgomery threw 6 1/3 innings in Game 1 as Texas won 2-0. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, who allowed both runs over six innings, will make his 21st postseason start for the Astros.