MLB 2023 ALCS Game 4 Notes

GAME 4
Today in Arlington, the Texas Rangers host the Houston Astros in Game 4 of the 2023 American League Championship Series…The Rangers lead the series 2-1 after taking Games 1 and 2 in Houston, before the Astros won Game 3 last night.

• Texas is looking to take a 3-1 lead in the series…Teams to take a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven Postseason series have gone on to win the series 78 of 92 times (84.8%), including 37 of 45 times in the LCS (82.2%)…The Rangers held 3-1 series leads after four games in both of their previous ALCS appearances in 2010 & 2011.
• Houston is looking to even up the series at 2-2 and take back home field advantage in the series…Teams that win Game 4 to tie up a seven-game Postseason series at 2-2 have gone on to win the series 31 of 65 times (47.6%), including eight of 19 times in the LCS (42.1%).
  
  BACK AT GLOBE LIFE FIELD
  Today the Rangers are playing just their third home game in the last 24 days…Texas finished the regular season with a six game road trip and has played six of seven Postseason games away from home.
• Last night’s attendance of 42,368 was a sellout and the largest crowd for a Rangers game in Globe Life Field history
• The Rangers are 1-1 in Postseason home games at Globe Life Field.
• Globe Life Field has hosted games in the ALDS, NLDS, ALCS, NLCS and World Series…The ballpark hosted 16 total Postseason games during the 2020 season.
  
• BASEBALL SKY
  The roof is scheduled to be open for tonight’s game at Globe Life Field…There were 11 regular season games played with the roof open at Globe Life in 2023, which was five fewer than in 2022 and equaling the total for 2021… The last game played at the ballpark with the roof open came on May 21 vs. Colorado…In the 11 games with the roof open this year, the game-time temperatures ranged from 67-82 degrees and Texas went 7-4 in those games.
  
• HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE?
• The Rangers went 50-31 (.617) at home in the regular season, which was the second-best home record in the American League (Tampa Bay went 53-28 at Tropicana Field).
• Houston is 7-1 at Globe Life Field in 2023 (regular season + postseason) and has won their last six games at the ballpark…Overall, the Astros have won 11 of their last 12 and 19 of their last 24 in Arlington… Additionally, the Astros are 54-30 (.643) on the road this year combining the regular season and postseason, which is the highest win percentage in the Majors.
  
• STREAK STORIES
• The Rangers had their seven game win streak to begin the 2023 playoffs snapped last night…The streak finished tied for the second-longest win streak in MLB history to begin a Postseason…The only team with a longer streak to open a Postseason was the 2014 Royals (eight games).
• Texas still has an active six game road win streak to begin the Postseason…They are the fourth team all-time to win six straight on the road at any point in a single Postseason; the only teams with longer streaks are the 2019 Nationals (8 games) and 1996 Yankees (8 games).
  
• AIR YORDAN
  In the 2023 Postseason, Yordan Alvarez leads the Majors in home runs (6), slugging (1.148), OPS (1.615), total bases (31) and runs (11) and is tied for the lead in RBI (10) and extra-base hits (8).

ABOUT GAME 3
Last night, the Astros won Game 3 of the 2023 ALCS by an 8-5 score to cut the Rangers series lead to 2-1…Cristian Javier earned the win after tossing 5.2 innings and allowing two earned runs on three hits…He has now won all four of his career Postseason starts while pitching to a 0.82 ERA (22 IP – 2 ER)…Jose Altuve hit his 25th career Postseason homer, which ranks second all-time, behind Manny Ramirez (29)…Josh Jung homered twice for Texas, to become the fifth player (first rookie) in Rangers history with a multi-HR playoff game.

• Teams that win Game 3 after falling behind 2-0 in a seven-game Postseason series have gone on to win the series 13 of 50 times (26%)…The only team to win a seven-game ALCS after going down 0-2 and winning Game 3 was the 1985 Royals (vs. Toronto).
  
• 100 PLAYOFF GAME CLUB
  Jose Altuve has appeared in 99 career Postseason games, which is tied for seventh-most all-time…With an appearance tonight, he’d become the seventh player with 100+ playoff games played, joining Derek Jeter (158), Jorge Posada (125), Bernie Williams (121), David Justice (112), Manny Ramirez (111) and Yadier Molina (104).

ROOKIE RECORDS
Josh Jung has already set Texas franchise records for a single Postseason with three home runs and seven extra-base hits…He also set a Rangers single-game rookie Postseason record with four RBI last night in Game 3…He has hits in six of eight games this Postseason and seven of 11 hits in the playoffs have gone for extra bases

ON THE MOUND
Today’s starting pitching matchup features Houston’s José Urquidy taking on Andrew Heaney for Texas.

• Urquidy is making his second start of the 2023 Postseason, after earning the win for Texas in Game 4 of the ALDS at Minnesota (5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO).
  • Heaney is also making his second start of the 2023 Postseason and took a no-decision in Game 1 of the ALDS at Baltimore on Oct. 7 (3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 Er, 1 BB, 1 SO).
    
  • THE CLOSERS
  • Both closers in the ALCS have seen success in their
  • Postseason careers.
  • Houston’s Ryan Pressly has converted all 14 of his career Postseason save opportunities, including all three save chances in 2023…His 14 Postseason saves are the most in Astros history…The streak of 14 straight successful save conversions are the most to begin a playoff career all-time…The only longer save streak at any point in a Postseason career is a 23 game stretch by Mariano Rivera spanning 1998-2001.
  • Texas closer José Leclerc has finished seven of the Rangers eight Postseason games this year and has converted all three of his save chances, while allowing one run in 7.1 innings (1.23 ERA).
    
  • SILVER BOOT SERIES
    Houston won nine of 13 meetings with Texas during the 2023 regular season, marking the seventh consecutive season that the Astros have won or split the season series against the Rangers…With both teams finishing the regular season with identical 90-72 records, the Astros earned their third consecutive A.L. West title by virtue of the season series win…The clubs split the six head-to-head matchups at Minute Maid Park this year, while the Astros won six of the seven meetings in Arlington including a three-game sweep in the final regular season series from Sept. 4-6, in which Houston outscored the Rangers 39-10.
    
  • 2023 AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
  • Houston is playing in the ALCS for a seventh consecutive season, which is the longest streak all-time by an A.L. team and the second-longest by any team in the Majors, trailing only Atlanta’s run of eight straight appearances in the NLCS from 1991-99 (excluding the 1994 Strike season).
  • Texas is in their third League Championship Series in franchise history, having won both of their previous two appearances in 2010 & 2011.
    
    LCS EXPERIENCE
  • Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman have appeared in LCS games in seven consecutive years…They join John Smoltz and Tom Glavine as the only players to appear in at least seven straight LCS…Smoltz and Glavine each appeared in eight straight for the Braves from 1991-99 (no LCS was played in 1994). (credit: MLB’s Sarah Langs).
  • Overall, 20 members of the Astros active roster had previous LCS experience, while six Rangers make their returns to the League Championship Series.
    
  • FIRST IMPRESSIONS
    Rangers rookie Evan Carter has reached base safely in all eight of the Rangers Postseason games this year…He has also become the first Ranger ever with multiple outfield assists in a single Postseason.
    
  • HOW THE ASTROS GOT HERE
    Houston won the American League West division for the third consecutive season and the sixth time in the last seven years…The Astros 90 wins were their fewest in a full season since winning 84 games in 2016; they had 101+ wins in four of the last five full seasons…Houston did not clinch the division title until the final day of the regular season with their win at Arizona paired with the Rangers loss in Seattle…With the #2 seed in the American League, the Astros did not compete in the Wild Card round and defeated the Minnesota Twins in four games in the Division Series to earn their seventh straight appearance in the LCS.
    
  • HOW THE RANGERS GOT HERE
    Texas snapped a streak of six consecutive losing seasons and posted a winning record for the first time since going 95-67 in 2016…Texas spent 139 days in first place in the A.L. West but ultimately finished in second place due to the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Astros…Despite not having home field advantage in either series and facing the teams with the two best regular season records in the American League, the Rangers are 6-0 to begin the 2023 Postseason with a two-game sweep in the Wild Card series at Tampa Bay and a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in the Division Series…The Orioles went 101-61 in the regular season to earn the A.L.’s top seed in the Postseason, while the Rays won 99 games to secure the first Wild Card position in the American League.
    
  • IF THE RANGERS ADVANCE
    The Rangers would have home field advantage if they advance to the World Series regardless of the opponent they face…Texas finished with a better regular season record than the Diamondbacks and would win a tiebreaker against the Phillies following their three-game sweep at Globe Life Field from March 30 – April 2 in the first three games of the regular season.
    
  • IF THE ASTROS ADVANCE
    The Astros would also have home field advantage vs. Arizona if they advance to the World Series, but would lose a tiebreaker to the Phillies with Philadelphia winning two of three games at Minute Maid Park from April 28-30.