McCullers, Morton get next 2 starts

LOS ANGELES — Lance McCullers Jr. will start for the Astros in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night at Minute Maid Park, and Charlie Morton will start Game 4 on Saturday night, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Wednesday.

McCullers, who will oppose ex-Texas Rangers righthander Yu Darvish, pitched six innings of one-run ball against the Yankees in his only previous start of this postseason. Overall, the 24-year-old righthander has a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings in these playoffs.

Morton, who will oppose lefthander Alex Wood, has made three starts this postseason. He has a 6.23 ERA in 13 innings, a number somewhat skewed by the seven earned runs he was charged with in his ALCS Game 3 start at Yankee Stadium.

McCullers and Morton last pitched Saturday in the Astros’ 4-0 Game 7 win over the Yankees, with Morton holding the Yankees scoreless through five innings before McCullers threw the last four. This configuration ensures McCullers would be available on normal four days’ rest for a potential World Series Game 7. Morton would be on three days’ rest for a Game 7.

“They’re both going to pitch at home. They both pitched on the same day. You just have to pick an order,” Hinch said. “Obviously, as the series gets longer, we’ve proven that everybody’s available.”

Game 1 viewership relatively high

Television viewership for the Dodgers’ World Series Game 1 victory over the Astros was down from last year’s CubsIndians opener but otherwise was the highest-rated Game 1 since 2010.

The game broadcast on Fox had an 8.7 Nielsen rating with a 15 share and an average audience of 14.968 million viewers. With mobile viewing and Spanishlanguage viewership included, the average audience was 15.449 million.

That compared to an 11.3/20 rating/share and 19.3 million viewers on Fox for the CubsIndians opener last year and matched the 8.7/14 with 14.1 million viewers for the CardinalsRangers opener in 2011. The Giants-Rangers series in 2010 opened at 8.9/15 with 15 million viewers.

In Houston, the game had a 28.6 rating with a 44 share and an average audience of 1.1 million viewers on KRIV (Channel 26).

Channel 26’s rating was the best for a Major League Baseball game in Houston since Game 4 of the Astros’ 2005 World Series loss to the White Sox rated 42.2 with a 57 share. Game 1 of the 2005 series rated 36.0 with a 56 rating in Houston.

In Los Angeles, the game had a 42.2 rating and 43 share.

Scully has moment back in the spotlight

Much to the delight of the crowd packing Dodger Stadium, Vin Scully came out to throw the ceremonial first pitch for Game 2. He carried a microphone in one hand and a baseball in the other, fitting for the announcer whose voice reverberated for years on transistor radios throughout Dodger Stadium. Scully went into a windup and stopped, feigning a rotator cuff injury. He said he would have to call to the dugout for relief.

And who should come out? None other than Fernando Valenzuela, the Dodger great who now works as a Spanish language announcer for the team.

Valenzuela went into his classic windup and threw to a familiar target, Steve Yeager ,a Dodgers catcher for 14 years.

Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle Dodgers center fielder Chris Taylor misses on a lunge for a ball hit by the Astros’ Alex Bregman in the third inning. Bregman was held to an RBI single when the ball bounced off the bill of Taylor’s cap and went straight to left fielder Joc Pederson.

Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle The Astros’ dugout erupts after Carlos Correa hit a solo home run in the 10th, but the Dodgers responded with two runs to send the game to the 11th, where George Springer’s homer won it.

Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle Astros third baseman Alex Bregman isn’t so sure about a fifthinning strike call. He would line out to left in the at-bat.