World Series Game 4: The road show rolls on

The Houston Astros rode Jose Urquidy’s five solid innings to an 8-1 victory over the Washington Nationals in Game 4 of the World Series

The World Series that won’t follow the script continued its practice of winging it Saturday night.

Lacking an available starter and down two games to one, the Houston Astros turned to Jose Urquidy, a 24-year-old who started the season pitching for Corpus Christi and who pitched his first major league inning in July. In Game 4 of the World Series, they threw him against Patrick Corbin, a $137 million left-hander who went 14-7 for Washington this season.

The way this series is going, it will surprise nobody that Urquidy utterly shut down the Nationals while the Astros lit up Corbin and his successors for an 8-1 victory.

It was the fourth straight game won by the team operating at a perceived disadvantage, and also the fourth won by the club playing out of a suitcase.

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The last time the visitors won the first four World Series games was more than two decades ago. In 1996, the Atlanta Braves stormed into New York and swept the Yankees in Games 1 and 2. In Atlanta, the Yankees swept the Braves three straight before returning to Yankee Stadium to clinch the Series in six games.

As if often the case, the outcome was determined by clutch hitting, or the absence of same. Ten Astros came to the plate Saturday with one or more runners in scoring position. They delivered four hits that counted six runs.

The Nationals continued their practice of abstaining from doing anything to offend their guests. They batted 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position – and the 1 – Anthony Rendon’s sixth inning single — didn’t drive the runner home. Since the Series came to Washington Friday night, the Nats are 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position. That’s a .053 team batting average in run-scoring situations.

Not that normal clutch performance would have helped Corbin much Saturday. The Astros took him to task in the top of the first, stringing together four consecutive base hits – by Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel – to post a pair of runs.

There were no cheapies among them; the four left Astro bats at an average exit velocity of 94 mph.

In the fourth, Robinson Chirinos made it 4-0 with a 104 mph, 404-foot two-run home run following the base on balls Corbin issued to Carlos Correa.

Bregman’s seventh inning grand slam sealed the outcome in all but the formal sense.

For practical purposes, Urquidy sealed it even earlier. Having made only seven regular season starts, he gave Astros manager A.J. Hinch five sparkling innings, allowing just two base hits. The Nats threatened only once, that coming in the third when Yan Gomes led off with a double. Urquidy retired Corbin on a bunt attempt, got Turner to ground to Gurriel at first, and sent down Eaton on a popup to Correa.

He left after five innings, presumably because Hinch deduced that he was tiring. This was not visible to the casual observer; Urquidy retired the last nine Nationals he faced.

Now even at two games aside, the Series resumes Sunday night when Gerrit Cole – by consensus the American League’s best pitcher – takes the mound against Max Scherzer. Until game 1, when Scherzer beat Cole, the presumption would have been that the Astros now have the distinct advantage.

Now? Who knows.