NEW YORK -- Astros pitcher Brad Peacock, who was one of the team's most effective pitchers in the regular season, didn't pitch in any of the first four games of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees. Manager A.J. Hinch said he's been looking for the right spot to utilize Peacock, who warmed up briefly late in Tuesday's Game 4.
"The No. 1 goal would be to get the lead and then sort out how to get the outs," Hinch said prior to Wednesday's Game 5 of the ALCS presented by Camping World. "If [starter Dallas Keuchel] wants to get all of them, that's great. If he needs help, we have a number of arms, including Peacock."
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Peacock threw 2 2/3 innings, allowing three runs and six hits, in his only postseason start, which game in Game 3 of the AL Division Series presented by Doosan against the Red Sox. In the regular season, Peacock went 3-0 with a 1.77 ERA in 13 relief outings before being moved to the rotation, where he was 10-2 with a 3.22 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 111 2/3 innings over 21 starts.
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In Tuesday's Game 4, Hinch pulled starter Lance McCullers after he gave up a leadoff homer to Aaron Judge in the seventh inning that cut Houston's lead to 4-1. Three of the Astros' most reliable relievers -- Chris Devenski, Joe Musgrove and Ken Giles -- combined to allow five runs and six hits in 1 1/3 innings.
"I think Brad is a great weapon," Hinch said. "In hindsight, it's always easy to reflect back on that. Where we were in the moment, in the hitters we had matched up, we were comfortable with what we had. When it doesn't work, of course you look at the alternatives and what could have happened.
"In baseball, we always assume the other [move] would have worked out. One hundred percent, we think it would have worked out. We just don't know. Certainly, Brad's a weapon that can and will be utilized today, especially."
Hinch addresses ump discussion after Judge's double
When Hinch went onto the field to talk to the umpires following Judge's game-tying double in the eighth inning of Game 4 on Tuesday night, he said he was considering pulling his team off the field because left fielder Marwin Gonzalez had been pelted with debris from the stands on the play.
"I told them, 'If we don't get a hold of this, I'm going to pull my team off the field,'" Hinch said.
Hinch also said his family had been doused with beer in the stands in Game 3 on Wednesday. That being said, Hinch said his players are equipped to handle the atmosphere at Yankee Stadium, which was raucous in Game 4.

"This is a tough place to play, a tough place to pitch," he said. "When they get things going, they're really good at home in how they perform. So our players can handle it. I think it comes down to execution and making pitches. And every day is learning day to get a little bit more comfortable in it."