HOUSTON -- Three games into the 2018 American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox hold a 2-1 series lead over the defending World Series champion Houston Astros. Game 4 is Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park. Here's how you can watch the game. Game 4 is not a literal "must win" for the Astros -- this isn't a win or go home situation -- but, clearly, the Astros do not want to fall behind 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. Beating the Red Sox three times in a row feels impossible right now. Anyway, here is the starting lineup the visiting Red Sox will use in Game 4: With right-hander Charlie Morton on the mound for the Astros, Red Sox manager Alex Cora has replaced the right-handed hitting Eduardo Nunez and Ian Kinsler with the lefty hitting Devers and Holt, respectively. Nunez suffered a minor ankle injury in Game 3 but likely would've been out of the Game 4 lineup anyway given his inconsistent play. Also, Mitch Moreland remains sidelined with a nagging hamstring injury, so Pearce stays in at first base. Now here is the starting lineup the home Astros will sent out there Wednesday: The Red Sox have been pitching around Bregman all series -- he has seven walks and a .714 on-base percentage in the series -- but nobody has been driving him in. So, Astros manager A.J. Hinch has decided to change things up and move Bregman to the leadoff spot. That gives him more at-bats than anyone on the team and also puts some better hitters behind him. If the Red Sox are going to continue to pitch around him, Springer and Altuve are better able to bring Bregman home than Gurriel or Gonzalez. Also, Altuve remains at DH in Game 4 as he deals with a nagging knee injury that has bothered him since July. The injury moves Gonzalez from left to center and puts Kemp in the lineup in left over Tyler White at DH. Altuve favored his knee noticeably when running the bases in Game 3, though he also laid down a bunt hit and beat it out. It seems he protects the knee whenever possible, but can bust it when necessary. LCS games will air on Fox, FS1 and TBS, which can be streamed on fuboTV (Try for free). For a look at the complete schedule, click here. So who wins every playoff game? And which teams are a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to get MLB Playoff picks from the proven model that simulates every game 10,000 times, and find out.<doc-sep>TV/Radio: TBS / WEEI. Red Sox vs. Morton: Bogaerts 7-14, Kinsler 3-10, Martinez 2-12, Benintendi 4-10, Betts 3-8, Moreland 4-9, Bradley 1-9, Pearce 4-7, Devers 2-6, Vazquez 1-4, Leon 0-4, Holt 1-3, Nunez 2-2, Swihart 1-3. Astros vs. Porcello: McCann 7-27, Reddick 4-13, Altuve 4-16, Springer 7-14, Gonzalez 4-13, Correa 3-10, Gurriel 5-12, Maldonado 2-9, Bregman 2-8, Gattis 0-8, Kemp 0-2, White 0-2. Stat of the Day: The Sox are 3-0 on the road in the postseason and have scored 28 runs. Evenly matched: The Sox and Astros have split 10 games this season counting the postseason. They have each scored 34 runs. Advertisement High-powered matchup: The Sox and Astros combined for 211 wins in the regular season. Only the 1998 World Series (Yankees vs. Padres) had a higher combined win total (212). Slam brothers: Jackie Bradley’s grand slam in the eighth inning of Game 3 was the sixth slam in Red Sox postseason history. He joined Shane Victorino (Game 6 2013 ALCS), David Ortiz (Game 2, 2013 ALCS), J.D. Drew (Game 6 2007 ALCS), Johnny Damon (Game 7, 2004 ALCS) and Troy O’Leary (Game 5 1999 ALDS). Other notes: Rick Porcello has worked 6⅔ innings in the playoffs (one start, two relief appearances) and allowed one earned run. Porcello faced the Astros twice this season and allowed six earned runs over 12 innings. … Charlie Morton could be a bit rusty. He has not pitched in 16 days and has gone four innings in the last 31 days. Morton, the pride of Joel Barlow High in Redding, Conn., faced the Sox twice this season and allowed eight runs on 16 hits over 10.1 innings. … Houston’s Alex Bregman is 7 of 15 in six postseason games with four extra-base hits, seven runs, five RBIs and 11 walks. He is hitting .467/.714/1.000. … Xander Bogaerts has an eight-game postseason hittting streak. … The Red Sox bullpen has a 3.68 ERA in the postseason. Advertisement Song of the Day: “Chapter Four” by Avenge Sevenfold. Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @peteabe.<doc-sep>With a win Wednesday night, the Boston Red Sox can take a commanding 3-1 lead in the American League Championship Series. The Red Sox and the Astros will square off in Game 4 of the ALCS at Minute Maid Park. Boston manager Alex Cora will hand the ball to right-hander Rick Porcello, while Houston manager A.J. Hinch will counter with righty Charlie Morton. Porcello has looked impressive during the playoffs, pitching to a 1-0 record with a 1.35 ERA in three appearances (one start). Morton, meanwhile, will be making his first appearance of the 2018 postseason. As for the lineups, the Red Sox will roll with Rafael Devers at third base and Brock Holt at second. Steve Pearce once again will start at first and Christian Vazquez will handle catching duties. The Astros will tinker with their lineup for the pivotal Game 4, with the red-hot Alex Bregman moving up to bad leadoff. Here are the full lineups for Tuesday’s Red Sox-Astros Game 4: RED SOX Mookie Betts, RF Andrew Benintendi, LF J.D. Martinez, DH Xander Bogaerts, SS Rafael Devers, 3B Steve Pearce, 1B Brock Holt, 2B Christian Vazquez, C Jackie Bradley Jr., CF<doc-sep>
The Red Sox can take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead over the Astros in the ALCS behind Rick Porcello (17-7, 4.28 ERA) tonight in Houston (8:39 p.m., TBS). About Game 4: Good Porcello, should he appear tonight, has a chance to push the Sox to within a game of the World Series. Bad Porcello has the chance to make it a dogfight with Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole looming for Games 5 and 6. Each Porcello has started against the Astros this year, but only Good Porcello pitched in Houston, going 6.1 innings and allowing 2 runs. I’d be pretty darn happy if he just ran that back, y’know? Even that might not be enough because the Astros, in very Astros-ian form, throw a guy who’d be the ace on half of the teams in the league in Game 4. Charlie Morton (15-3, 3.13 ERA) is an oldie but a goodie, a late-bloomer who, in any other scenario, is easy to root for. He also made two starts against the Sox this year, with one good and one bad, only his bad one came in Houston, where he gave up 5 runs in 5.1 innings. I’d be ecstatic if he just ran that back, y’know? As for the lineup, Rafael Devers is back at third base and Brock Holt at second, praise be. For the Astros, Alex Bregman is in the leadoff spot, because they’re not stupid. About Game 3: A taut, tense game was ripped wide open in the eighth inning when Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a career-defining grand slam into the stands in right, clearing the way for the 8-2 Sox victory. Forecast: Anxiety. Today’s reading: Here are Matt’s Game 3 thoughts. A good tweet: Big Papi reacting to that JBJ @RedSox grand slam is everything. pic.twitter.com/lZNUwLmpG8 — FOX Sports (@FOXSports) October 17, 2018 LINEUPS