The Latest on Game 4 of the World Series (all times local):
9:09 p.m.
José Urquidy is looking less like an “opener” and more like a conventional starting pitcher for the Astros.
Urquidy worked around a leadoff double from Yan Gomes to keep the Nationals scoreless through three innings in Game 4. He has allowed two hits and thrown 30 of his 38 pitches for strikes. The Astros lead 2-0.
Houston manager AJ Hinch said he didn’t necessarily consider Game 4 to be a bullpen day because he was hoping Urquidy could go five or six innings.
In the top half, Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon made a diving stop of José Altuve’s one-hopper down the left-field line. Rendon, an MVP candidate, has handled four hard-hit grounders through three innings to help out starter Patrick Corbin.
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8:46 p.m.
Patrick Corbin settled down in the second inning for the Nationals, using nine pitches to retire the Astros in order on three groundouts.
José Urquidy retired the Nationals in order in the bottom half, with two strikeouts.
Houston leads Washington 2-0 after two innings of Game 4. The Astros are seeking to even the series at two games apiece and guarantee a return trip to Houston for Game 6.
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8:32 p.m.
Slumping Alex Bregman came through for the Astros, one of five consecutive batters to reach base in the first inning as Houston took a 2-0 lead over the Washington Nationals in Game 4 of the World Series.
Houston lost the first two games at home and was seeking to even the series after winning Friday night in Washington.
Bregman was 4-for-31 since the start of the AL Championship Series before he lined the first pitch from Patrick Corbin to left-center to score José Altuve. Yuli Gurriel followed with an infield single to bring Michael Brantley home.
Corbin got out of the inning with a double-play grounder from Robinson Chirinos.
Astros starter José Urquidy allowed a two-out single to Anthony Rendon in an uneventful bottom half.
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7:58 p.m.
Former Washington Senators great Frank Howard got a big ovation when he was recognized on the field before Game 4 of the World Series.
The 83-year-old Howard, nicknamed “Hondo,” was the best offensive player on a series of mostly terrible Washington Senators teams from 1965 to 1971, the franchise’s last year in Washington. He hit 382 homers in 16 major league seasons.
Baseball did not return to the nation’s capital until 2005, when the Montreal Expos relocated and became the Nationals.
Janyia Freeman, a young scholar-athlete from the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The academy brings baseball and softball to underserved youth in Washington.
The U.S. Army Brass Quintet performed the national anthem.
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7:22 p.m.
Aroldis Chapman says he has not yet decided whether to opt out of the final two years of his contract with the New York Yankees, which guarantees $30 million.
Chapman was at the World Series on Saturday to receive the AL Reliever of the Year award from Mariano Rivera. Milwaukee’s Josh Hader got the NL honor from Trevor Hoffman.
Traded by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs in July 2016, Chapman returned to the Yankees as a free agent that December for an $86 million, five-year deal that included $15 million salaries in 2020 and ’21.
The 31-year-old left-hander received the award a week after allowing a pennant-winning home run to Houston’s José Altuve in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series.
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5:31 p.m.
Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki was out of the starting lineup for Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday night after injuring his right hip flexor.
Suzuki had not been expected to start with left-hander Patrick Corbin on the mound for Washington. Yan Gomes has been Corbin’s personal catcher all season. But Suzuki’s availability for the rest of the series is in question.
Suzuki was pinch hit for in the sixth inning of Washington’s 4-1 loss to Houston on Friday, which pulled the Astros to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Gomes is 2 for 10 with one RBI in the World Series.
Raudy Reed and Tres Barrera are the other catchers on Washington’s 40-man roster.
NL Championship Series MVP Howie Kendrick was back in the Nationals’ starting lineup at second base, a night after Asdrúbal Cabrera was at second. Kendrick pinch hit and singled in the eighth inning of Game 3. The designated hitter in Houston, Kendrick has three errors in the postseason.
With no DH, rookie Yordan Álvarez remained out of the Astros’ starting lineup. George Springer moved from center field to right, Jake Marisnick started in center and Josh Reddick moved to the bench.
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