Astros even ALCS with blowout win over Rangers

The Houston Astros were on their deathbed before Game 3 - now, all the momentum is theirs.

The Astros took Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Thursday to tie the series at two games apiece.

The Texas Rangers took both games that were played in Houston earlier this week, so the Astros were down in a 2-0 before even playing a road game. Houston has struggled at home all season, but they've also dominated on the road, and that's what they continued to do on Thursday in their 10-3 win.

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The Astros bats got going as soon as the game started. Jose Altuve doubled, Mauricio Dubon singled, Alex Bregman tripled, and Yordan Alvarez singled to bring in three Astros runs before an out was recorded, as Andrew Heaney was unable to get out of the first inning.

But Texas was able to chip away. In the second inning, Adolis Garcia hit a solo homer to get the Rangers on the board, and a Josh Jung sac fly brought in their second run. In the next frame, Corey Seager tied it up with a solo shot of his own.

However, Houston turned it on in the fourth. Alvarez missed a grand slam by about a foot, but he had to live with a sac fly that gave the Astros a 4-3 lead. The next batter in Jose Abreu, though, made sure his hard-hit fly ball was never to be seed again, as he blasted a three-run homer to put the Astros up four.

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Chas McCormick added a two-run blast in the seventh, and Alvarez pitched in with another RBI with a single in the eighth.

Jose Urquidy lasted just 2.1 innings, but the Astros bullpen of Ryne Stanek, Hunter Brown, Phil Maton, and Rafael Montero combined for 6.2 scoreless innings in relief.

Altuve had three hits, and Alvarez's two hits pumped his postseason average to .419. Dubon is hitting .471 this postseason, as well.

Jordan Montgomery will look to keep his top-notch pitching going and get the Rangers back in the win column, while future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander will aim to bring his Astros one win away from their third-straight World Series appearance.

US Army charges Travis King with desertion for crossing into North Korea: Report

Army private Travis King, who bolted to North Korea earlier this year, has been charged with a host of crime from the U.S. ranging from desertion to possessing child pornography, according to a report from Reuters.

King faces eight total charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which also include making false statements and disobeying superior officers.

According to Reuters, the Army has charged him of broad misconduct prior to his escape to North Korea, including a previous attempted escape from U.S. military custody in October 2022. 

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King has also been accused of soliciting a Snapchat user in July 2023 to "knowingly and willingly produce child pornography." He was also accused of possession of child pornography.

He was also charged with insubordination for leaving his base after curfew and drinking alcohol in violation of Army regulations.

According to a statement, obtained by Reuters, a family spokesperson, King's mother, Claudine Gates, asked that her 23-year-old son "be afforded the presumption of innocence."

"The man I raised, the man I dropped off at boot camp, the man who spent the holidays with me before deploying did not drink," Gates said. "A mother knows her son, and I believe something happened to mine while he was deployed. The Army promised to investigate what happened at Camp Humphreys, and I await the results."

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King, a Private 2nd Class in the U.S. Army who has served since 2021, entered North Korea on foot on July 18, when he reportedly sprinted away from a tour group into the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

The incident happened after King finished approximately two months in a South Korean detention facility following a physical altercation with locals, a senior defense official previously told Fox News. Throughout the time he was held at the facility, he made comments that he did not want to come back to America, according to a U.S. official. 

North Korea's state media reported that King confessed to crossing into the North because of "inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army."

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"During the investigation, Travis King confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army," state media outlet Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. "He also expressed his willingness to seek refuge in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he was disillusioned at the unequal American society."

King was eventually returned to U.S. custody in September. 

"The relevant organ of the [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] decided to expel Travis King, a soldier of the U.S. Army who illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK, under the law of the Republic," KCNA wrote, according to translations provided by Yonhap News Agency.

King was flown to a military hospital in Texas on Sept. 28 for medical and mental health evaluations.

Details are still scarce about King's treatment in North Korean custody and the soldier has not publicly explained why he fled to one of the world's most reclusive nations.

Reuters, Timothy Nerozzi and Liz Friden contributed to this report.

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