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The Houston Astros took Game Four in Philadelphia to tie the series at 2-2 and look to their Cy Young Award winning pitcher Justin Verlander to give the team a 3-2 series lead over the Phillies on Friday in their final road game of the season.
Houston Astros (-145, 7.5) vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Verlander had the lowest ERA among qualifying starting pitchers during the regular season with a 1.75 ERA, but in three postseason starts has surrendered 12 runs in 15 innings.
For his career, Verlander has a 6.07 ERA in eight World Series appearances with an 0-6 record and has to face a Phillies lineup that has 17 home runs in seven home playoff games this season.
The Phillies counter with Noah Syndergaard who figured to not lend much length as he has thrown 5 1/3 innings across three appearances this postseason.
In the postseason, Syndergaard has allowed just one run this postseason, but his overall ERA is 4.34 away from Angel Stadium this season and the amount of swings and misses he is getting are down from his career numbers with 6.3 strikeouts per nine innings in 2022.
The lack of length of length Syndergaard will lend should lead to plenty of exposure on a Phillies bullpen that had the worst bullpen ERA post-All Star break in the National League in the regular season. Couple that with Verlander’s World Series struggles and it set up for offensive fireworks in Game Five.
The Play: Astros vs. Phillies Over 7.5