Boston @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 16, 2018 ) Boston 8, Houston 2

The Boston Red Sox attempt to take a 3-1 lead when they visit the Houston Astros on Wednesday for Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. Jackie Bradley Jr. broke Game 3 open with a grand slam in the eighth inning as Boston posted an 8-2 victory to win its second straight in the series.

Bradley's blast was the sixth postseason slam in Red Sox history and it put a capper on the team's solid performance. "It's a credit to him, because at this level, when you're hitting .180 after two months or I think it was three months, it is hard," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said during his postgame press conference. "And he kept showing up. He kept working. He kept working his craft. Now you see the results." The defending World Series champion Astros aren't overly worried about trailing through three games as they had to win the final two games of the 2017 ALCS to knock out the New York Yankees. "There's no pouting around here. There's no panic around here," Houston manager A.J. Hinch said in his postgame press conference. "It's just get ready for (Wednesday's) game. We've done a really good job of being focused on what the next situation is."

TV: 8:39 p.m. ET, TBS

PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox RH Rick Porcello (1-0, 1.35 ERA) vs. Astros RH Charlie Morton (regular season: 15-3, 3.13)

Porcello, a 17-game winner in the regular season, struck out two in a scoreless inning of relief in Game 2 of this series. The 29-year-old won his lone start of the AL Division Series when he gave up one run and four hits over five innings against the Yankees and he said he has adjusted to the dual role. "I think as a starter you're trying to cover the course of a whole ballgame, so you're kind of trying to keep your emotions in check just because you've got a lot of baseball to pitch," Porcello said at his press conference. "You don't want to get too high, too low, whatever it is."

Morton posted career highs for victories and strikeouts (201) but this will be his first appearance of the postseason. The 34-year-old has pitched just four innings over the last month with his last outing being a three-inning stint against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 30. "I tried to keep playing catch, and I threw a lot of (batting practice), threw a bullpen all in the past week and a half," Morton said at his press conference. "So we discussed just trying to get some rest, take advantage of this time and try to stay sharp at the same time."

WALK-OFFS

1. Red Sox LHP Chris Sale (stomach) rejoined the team and will throw a bullpen session Wednesday before the team decides whether or not he will start Thursday's Game 5.

2. Houston 2B Jose Altuve (knee) served as the DH in Game 3 and Hinch is leaning toward keeping him in that role in Game 4.

3. Boston DH J.D. Martinez had a run-scoring double in Game 3, his lone hit in 11 at-bats in the series.

PREDICTION: Astros 6, Red Sox 5