Live Updates: Yankees-Astros Game 4 Is Delayed by Rain
When the Yankees needed their season saved in Game 5 of their American League division series with Cleveland, they turned to Nestor Cortes, the team’s All-Star left-hander. Down 3-0 in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, they will once again have Cortes on the mound for a potential elimination game.
Pitching on short rest against Cleveland, Cortes performed better than anyone could have expected, allowing one run on three hits over five innings. That will be difficult to repeat against the Houston Astros, who are 6-0 in the postseason this year despite the star second baseman Jose Altuve having just one hit.
Going against Cortes is the right-hander Lance McCullers Jr., who had a 2.27 E.R.A. in eight regular season starts and threw six scoreless innings against Seattle in Game 3 of their division series. McCullers was expected to start Game 3 of the A.L.C.S. but he sustained an unusual injury during the Astros’ victory celebration a week ago in Seattle. In the midst of the clubhouse party after Houston’s series-clinching win over the Mariners, someone accidentally bashed McCullers in the right elbow with a bottle of champagne.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/23/sports/yankees-astros-score