The New York Yankees and Houston Astros resumed their best-of-seven ALCS on Thursday night with Game 4 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Houston is looking to build upon its 2-1 advantage. In best-of-seven series in MLB history, the team with a 2-1 lead heading into Game 4 has won the series 71 percent of the time.   

With the rain-out of the originally scheduled Game 4 on Wednesday, both clubs have adjusted their pitching plans. Game 5 of the ALCS was pushed to Friday night at Yankee Stadium and Games 6 and 7 in Houston on Saturday and Sunday, if necessary. The Yankees now face the possibility of playing four days in a row against the Astros, but they'll first have to win one of their next two games in order to force a return trip to Houston.

Now let's set the scene with some essentials. 

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How to watch

Date: Thursday, Oct. 17 | Time: 8:08 p.m. ET
Location: Yankee Stadium (Bronx, New York)
TV: FS1 | Stream: fuboTV (Try for free)
Odds: NYY: -125 | HOU: +110 | O/U: 8.5
Pitchers: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Zack Greinke
Follow: CBS Sports App 

Preview

Due to the rescheduling of Game 4, Tanaka can pitch on full rest for the Yankees in a game that was originally scheduled to be a bullpen day for New York. The right-hander was fantastic in Game 1 of the ALCS, where he allowed just one hit in six innings in the 7-0 win in the series opener. Tanaka is the club's best postseason pitcher right now. He has allowed one run on four hits in 11 innings in the postseason while facing 37 hitters. Tanaka is 5-2 with a 1.32 ERA in seven career postseason starts. In four playoff starts against the Astros, he has allowed five runs in 24 innings. New York is likely try to squeeze five or six innings out of Tanaka, since their bullpen has been used extensively throughout the postseason.

Across the way, Greinke will return to pitch Game 4 on full rest, as Houston was also scheduled to do a bullpen game Wednesday. The right-hander allowed three runs and six hits, including two home runs, in the Astros Game 1 loss. He has allowed nine earned runs in 9 2/3 innings in two starts this postseason in losses to the Rays in Game 3 of the AL Division Series and Yankees in Game 1 of the ALCS. Greinke has allowed five homers in the postseason and gave up homers to Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton. In his two postseason starts this year, he has an 8.38 ERA.

Prediction

We'll go with a bounce back performance for the Yankees, to even the series at two apiece. Tanaka will continue his postseason dominance while the Yankees bats will manage to get enough runs on the board to record the win at home.

Pick: Yankees 6, Astros 4