The Astros are expected to turn to right-hander José Urquidy (3-3, 5.29 ERA).The Philadelphia Phillies stormed back to beat the Houston Astros, 6-5, on Friday night in a drama-filled Game 1 of the 2022 World Series. The Rangers have not announced their starter, but could roll with lefty Andrew Heaney (10-6, 4.15 ERA). The two sides will meet for Game 4 of the ALCS on Thursday night. The Rangers, then, are still the overwhelming favorites to win the pennant - that's just common sense given they need to win one fewer game to do it - but it's not a fait accompli. Conversely, teams holding a 2-1 advantage have won their series 70.3% of the time. Teams to go up 3-0 in a best-of-seven series have historically won 97.5% of those sets. To state the obvious: the Astros improved their odds of winning the ALCS with their victory in Game 4. Javier had previously allowed no runs on one hit and five walks in five innings of work versus the Minnesota Twins. He struck out three batters on 85 pitches. Overall, Javier allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings. Javier's home run shattered what had been one of the longest scoreless streaks to begin a playoff career in MLB history among starting pitchers: He then surrendered a two-run home run to Josh Jung to give the Rangers life. He didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning. On the other side, Astros righty Cristian Javier offered his second consecutive good playoff start. He finished his night having surrendered five runs on five hits and a walk over the course of four innings pitched and 63 total pitches. The answer: not as good as Scherzer is accustomed to pitching. The big story heading into Game 3 was how Rangers ace Max Scherzer would pitch after missing more than a month with a strained teres major muscle in his right shoulder. Rangers third baseman Josh Jung tried his best, homering twice, but it wasn't enough for Texas to fully close the gap. They scored nine runs in Game 3 of the ALDS. Thursday represented the second-most runs the Astros have scored this postseason. The Astros added one more run in the eighth to give them eight on the night. Then, in the seventh, the Astros fully broke the game open, as the aforementioned Alvarez delivered a two-run single to make it 7-2. Mauricio Dubón made it 5-0 with a single in the fourth inning. Jose Altuve launched a single home run in the third inning to put the Astros ahead by a 4-0 margin. Martín Maldonado, whose bat often leaves a lot to be desired, then drove in two with a single. The Astros plated their first run in the second inning, when Yordan Alvarez scampered across the plate on a wild pitch. On Thursday, they hit like their normal selves. That after averaging more than five runs per game during both the regular season and the Division Series. The Rangers had scored just four runs through the first two games of the ALCS. Here are four other things worth knowing about the Astros' Game 3 victory. The two sides will meet again on Thursday in Game 4 of the series. The Astros then broke open the game against the Rangers bullpen. Offensively, Houston maintained pressure on the returning Max Scherzer throughout his four-inning start. The Astros received a strong start from Cristian Javier, who did not allow a hit until the late stages of the fifth inning. The Astros are, of course, seeking their second consecutive World Series championship. The Rangers now lead the best-of-seven series by a 2-1 margin. The Houston Astros defeated the Texas Rangers 8-5 in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Thursday night.
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