The Houston Astros are one win away from the ALCS after beating the Kansas City Royals 4-2 in Game 3 of the ALDS on Sunday afternoon. Houston now takes a 2-1 series lead into Monday, looking to advance to their fifth LCS ever – and just their third in the Wild Card era.
Houston sent ace Dallas Keuchel to the mound, and he continued to thrive at Minute Maid Park. The Royals led off the first and second inning with singles, but couldn’t put any runs on the board against Keuchel. After a 1-2-3 third, Lorenzo Cain gave the Royals a 1-0 lead in the fourth after launching a leadoff homer.
Kansas City was in front after Cain’s homer because the Astros offense couldn’t do much of anything against Royals starter Edinson Volquez. Volquez allowed just three baserunners in the first four innings of the game, and none advanced a base. It was all good times for the Royals until the fifth, when the wheels began to fall off.
In the top of the fifth, Ben Zobrist doubled with two outs, and Keuchel got out of the jam after intentionally walking Cain. In the bottom of the inning, Luis Valbuena walked with one out, and moved to third on a double by Chris Carter. Jason Castro then came up big with the first hit of his Postseason career, a single that scored Valbuena and Carter to give Houston a 2-1 lead.
The Royals then began to flounder a bit more. In the sixth, Mike Moustakas doubled with one out, and couldn’t score. The Astros made the most of a double from George Springer in the bottom of the sixth, bringing him in thanks to a Carlos Gomez single four batters later. In the seventh, Keuchel walked Alex Rios to lead off the inning, and he advanced to third before being stranded.
Then in the bottom of the seventh, Carter seemingly drove a stake into the hearts of Royals fans everywhere, blasting a solo homer to increase the Astros’ lead to 4-1.
Kansas City couldn’t make the most of a one-out walk in the eighth, and Houston couldn’t tack more insurance on in the bottom of the inning after a pair of singles to lead off the inning.
In the ninth, the Royals threatened against Luke Gregerson, but fell short. Alex Gordon led the inning off with a solo homer to make it 4-2, and the tying run came up to the plate after an Alcides Escobar single, but Zobrist grounded into a fielder’s choice and Cain struck out to end the game and send the defending AL champions to within one loss of elimination.
Keuchel pitched well, but wasn’t as dominant as he has been at times this season. In seven innings, Keuchel allowed one run on five hits, walking three and striking out seven. Dominant? Nope – Kansas City had their chances, but went 0/7 with runners in scoring position and stranded ten men on base.
Edinson Volquez wasn’t sharp for the Royals, either. He went 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on five hits, walking four and striking out eight. Last year, the Royals could rely on solid starting pitching just enough to get to their bullpen hydra. That hasn’t happened this year – Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis have thrown a combined three innings in three games. Volquez, Johnny Cueto, and Yordano Ventura have all allowed at least three runs in their starts. Not good.
Offensively, yet another different Astro stepped up today as Carter went 3/3 with a double, a homer, two runs, and an RBI. Colby Rasmus also stayed white hot, going 1/1 with a single and three walks for Houston. Eric Hosmer is 1/12 for the Royals this series, while Moustakas is 1/10 and Alex Rios is 1/8. Those are three big bats that have been complete non-factors for Kansas City in this ALDS.
Game 4 will take place on Monday at Minute Maid Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1 PM, with Ventura taking the hill for the Royals against Astros rookie Lance McCullers. Can the Astros win their first playoff series in a decade? The odds are looking pretty good for them right now.
