Simulated World Series: Yordan Alvarez's mammoth homer lifts Astros over Phillies in Game 4
How will this year's World Series turn out? Using the Dynasty League Baseball online simulation, USA TODAY Sports' Steve Gardner and ESPN's Eric Karabell are pre-playing the rest of the series to provide some insight into the key matchups and strategy fans can expect to see in the Fall Classic.
Sim Series Game 4: Alvarez goes deep to fuel Astros' win
Yordan Alvarez's titanic home run set the tone early and the Houston Astros' outstanding pitching did the rest for a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of USA TODAY Sports' annual Simulated World Series.
On an unusually warm fall evening at Citizens Bank Park, Alvarez launched an 0-2 pitch from Phillies starter Aaron Nola deep into Ashburn Alley in right-center field for a 2-0 lead the Astros would never relinquish.
Houston starter Cristian Javier allowed just one run and four hits in six innings, striking out 10, before turning things over to the bullpen to close out the game — and the series, which the Astros won in a four-game sweep.
BOX SCORE: Astros 3, Phillies 1
GAME SUMMARY: Alvarez's home run stands up as Astros edge Phillies
How it happened
This one was pretty simple.
Shortstop Jeremy Peña got the Astros started with a one-out double in the first, setting the stage for Alvarez's big fly to give Houston a quick 2-0 lead.
The Phillies came right back in the bottom of the inning to cut the margin in half when Bryce Harper led off with a double and came around to score on a two-out single by second baseman Jean Segura.
From there, the pitchers took over. The Phillies got the potential tying run into scoring position in the sixth when Harper connected for his second double of the game, but Javier (1-0) got Nick Castellanos to ground out to second for the final out.
Houston scored an insurance run in the seventh on an RBI double by catcher Martin Maldonado, and the Phillies were unable to mount any kind of a rally against the Astros bullpen.
What to watch in (the actual) Game 4
Ball go far: Unlike in the real Game 3 when the Phillies hit five home runs off Astros starter Lance McCullers, the simulated Phillies managed only two homers in four Sim Series games. They've relied on the longball throughout their improbable playoff run and could be in trouble if they're forced to manufacture runs, which they were unable to do in the Sim Series. The Phillies were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position in Game 4.
Meanwhile, the Astros were equally bad in those situations, going 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The big difference: that the one hit was Alvarez's home run.
Bullpen advantage: As has been stated many times, the Astros have an incredibly deep pitching staff — which makes it even more inexplicable that manager Dusty Baker would allow any of his pitchers to get too deep into trouble.
In Sim Series Game 4, Javier was sharp through the first six innings, allowing just a single run in the second. But when he gave up a one-out double to Bryson Stott, the Astros immediately went to the bullpen and Hector Neris responded by slamming the door to protect a one-run lead.
In all, the Astros bullpen allowed just one earned run over 12 innings (0.75 ERA) in the four Sim Series games.
Forgotten bat? This is probably a longshot, but if the Phillies need a key hit late in the game backup infielder Nick Maton could be an unlikely weapon. The Astros bullpen is almost exclusively right-handers and the lefty-hitting Maton had a .538 slugging percentage with four home runs in 62 plate appearances vs. righties during the regular season. Maton tripled as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of Sim Series Game 4, but his teammates couldn't bring him home.
Previous Sim Series results
Game 1: Astros 4, Phillies 3
Game 2: Astros 6, Phillies 5
Game 3*: Astros 6, Phillies 2
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Simulated World Series Game 4: Yordan Alvarez homer is all Astros need
