Happ, Yankees Are -110 Home Favorites vs Urquidy, Astros in ALCS Game 4 – Picks & Odds

• The New York Yankees will send JA Happ to the mound as -110 favorites in Game 4 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium
• Gerrit Cole posted his 19th straight win in Game 3 to give the Astros a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven
• New York hasn’t lost three in a row since a four-game skid from August 18th-22nd

JA Happ isn’t the last hope for the New York Yankees, but he’s pretty close.

Down 2-1 to the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series, Happ will get the Game 4 start at Yankee Stadium against Astros rookie right-hander Jose Urquidy on Wednesday (Oct. 16th, 8:00 PM ET) in what likely to end up being a “bullpen game” for both teams.

Books are leaning ever so slightly toward New York. They’ve established the Yankees as -110 favorites to win in the Yankees vs Astros Game 4 odds.

Astros vs Yankees Game 4 ALCS Odds

*Odds taken 10/15/19.

Losers of two straight, the Yankees haven’t dropped three in a row since suffering a four-game skid from August 18th-22nd. They have not lost at home on consecutive days since April 2nd-3rd.

Yankees Clipped

A lot went wrong for the Yankees in Game 3. The loss marked the first time since a 7-0 shutout against Texas on September 2nd that New York was held to one run or fewer in a home game.

In fact, the last two games marked just the fourth time all season that the potent Yankee offense was held under three runs in consecutive games. It’s yet to happen three times in a row this season.

The Bronx Bombers also played for the second straight game minus one of their big bombers. Giancarlo Stanton missed his second straight game with a quad strain. Stanton suffered the injury running out an infield hit in Game 1 of the ALCS.

"I'm doing what I can."

Giancarlo Stanton says his quad "is not the best," but he remains hopeful he can still be a factor in the ALCS. pic.twitter.com/OGCGDAzYls

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 15, 2019

Worse yet, the Yankees failed to take advantage of Cy Young favorite  Gerrit Cole in Game 3 on a day when he clearly didn’t have his A-level stuff.

For the first since August 1st, Cole didn’t register double digits in strikeouts in a start. He walked five, tying a career high, and struck out only seven.

Harried and Happ-Less?

Happ was 12-8 this season with a 4.91 ERA. He surrendered a team-high 34 home runs. He won his last two regular-season decisions but the Yankees lost the last two games he started.

Happ didn’t face the Astros during regular-season play. He’s 5-3 lifetime against Houston with a 4.50 ERA. He was 7-6 with a 5.01 ERA at Yankee Stadium this season.

One thing Happ has going for him is previous postseason experience. He’ll be making his 14th playoff appearance and fifth start in Game 4.

However, playoffs haven’t been a good experience for Happ. He’s 1-3 lifetime, including the loss in Game 2 of this series. It was Happ who served up Carlos Correa’s walkoff solo homer in the 11th inning of Houston’s 3-2 win.

The 36-year-old lefty has lost his last three playoff decisions and shows a postseason ERA of 5.48.

Yankees Aaron Boone: Wednesday will be a bullpen day for NY. No starting pitcher picked yet. #Astros will see a lot of relievers, like Tampa approach in Game 4. #TakeItBack

— Greg Bailey (@GregBailey13) October 14, 2019

But all of that comes with the caveat that Happ likely won’t be asked to pitch more than a couple of innings, just like his counterpart, Urquidy.

Astros Going To Bullpen Game

Houston manager AJ Hinch personally referred to Game 4 as a “bullpen game”. He’ll open with Urquidy but is willing to empty his pen in search of a win and a 3-1 stranglehold on the series. He knows he’s still got one more start available in this set for both of his 20-game winners, Cole and Justin Verlander.

If there is a rainout Wednesday …

Masahiro Tanaka and Zack Greinke could come back on full rest for Game 4. Same with James Paxton and Justin Verlander for Game 5.

Astros would get to delay their bullpen game until Game 6 — or could bring Gerrit Cole back short if need be.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 15, 2019

Urquidy was 2-1 with a 3.95 ERA this season in nine appearance, seven of them starts.

The best bet for Wednesday might be rain. The forecast isn’t favorable that Game 4 will be played. But if it is, New York has the stronger bullpen, top to bottom, and their better value at -110, despite their relievers already eating up 14.1 innings in the first three games.

Pick: New York Yankees (-110)