The Houston Astros are nine innings away from their first League Championship Series since 2005 after beating the Kansas City Royals 4-2 in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Sunday evening.
Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel went seven innings, allowing one earned run on five hits and striking out seven. According to ESPN Stats & Info, his pitch count (124) Sunday was a season high. MLB.com's Richard Justice didn't underplay what he thought of Keuchel's performance:
Keuchel did exceptionally well to put out any fires he created for himself, none bigger than in the top of the seventh inning.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch looked to be tempting fate when he left the Houston ace out as the Royals had a runner on third with two outs. The Astros were hanging on to what was then a 3-1 lead.
Keuchel quickly repaid Hinch's faith after he got Lorenzo Cain to strike out swinging to end the inning.
In total, Kansas City left 10 runners on base for the game, which illustrates the Royals' inability to manufacture runs.
Aside from singles to start the first and second innings, the Royals were unable to get to Keuchel early in the ballgame. Then, Cain led the top of the fourth off with a 10-pitch at-bat that culminated in a massive solo home run to left field:
As Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press noted, opposing hitters have rarely tagged Keuchel for home runs inside Minute Maid Park this year:
Alex Gordon struck out with runners on the corners to end the inning and remove any further threat for Kansas City.
The Astros had similar offensive issues, picking up just one hit through the first four innings, and on that one hit, Chris Carter got thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double. Their luck turned around, however, in the bottom of the fifth.
A one-out single from Jason Castro brought home Carter and Luis Valbuena to give the wild-card winners a 2-1 lead:
Among the hitters in the Houston lineup, Castro was one of the more unlikely guys to deliver a key hit based on his recent history, per ESPN Stats & Info:
The Astros fans inside Minute Maid Park exploded as Carter crossed the plate for the second run, which was music to the ears of ESPN's Jerry Crasnick:
The home team added another run in the bottom of the sixth after Carlos Gomez's two-out blooper to center fell in front of Cain, allowing George Springer to score.
Gomez proved to be Edinson Volquez's final batter of the game as Danny Duffy came on in relief. Volquez pitched 5.2 innings, surrendering three eared runs on five hits. He also walked four batters.
Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star didn't believe Volquez should get the entirety of the blame for the score at the time of his departure, since the Royals offense did him few favors:
Duffy got the final out of the sixth immediately after coming into the game, but Carter had his number in the bottom of the seventh after he sent a fastball high over the left field fence to make it a 4-1 game:
Mick Shaffer of TWC SportsChannel in Kansas City, Missouri, questioned whether Duffy should've come out for the seventh to face the right-handed Carter:
After Kansas City was unable to close the deficit in the eighth, Alex Gordon delivered a solo home run to start the top of the ninth. The Royals got the tying run to the plate twice in the inning, but Houston closer Luke Gregerson shut the door to end the game.
The Astros will look to close out the series Monday night in Game 4 in Houston, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. ET.
The game will undoubtedly be the biggest test for Lance McCullers in his brief MLB career. The 22-year-old went 6-7 with a 3.22 earned run average in his rookie season. Fatigue seemed to set in a bit as he allowed three or more earned runs in four of his last nine starts compared to just three times in his first 13 starts in the majors.
Yordano Ventura will oppose McCullers. He started Game 1, but only pitched two innings after weather caused a lengthy delay, leaving Royals manager Ned Yost to replace him with Chris Young.
Yost is confident Ventura won't suffer any major effects from pitching on short rest.
"We sat down as a group and looked at it," he said Sunday, per Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star. "Ventura bounces back really, really well. We wanted to have our best power arms coming at these guys."
The decision is a bit of a gamble for Yost. Should Kansas City drop Game 4, many critics will second-guess having Ventura take the mound. Then again, in a must-win situation, the Royals can't afford to leave one of their most talented arms on the bench if he's good to go.
Postgame Reaction
After the game, Keuchel spoke about his mindset when Hinch came out to the mound in the seventh, seemingly to change pitchers.
"I wanted to pitch to their best hitter," the left-hander said, per Adam Wexler of KPRC in Houston. "I thought I deserved to."
Pride often comes before the fall, and the postseason is littered with instances of a manager relying on his starter for one hitter too many—one of the most famous being Grady Little in the 2003 ALCS. Instead, Keuchel got the job done and spared Hinch from possible ignominy.
"Not an easy decision, but at the same time when you look in Dallas’ eyes & you know he’s got the ball in his hand I trust him," said Hinch, per Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle.
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