Oct 11 2015

ALDS Game 3 recap: Astros 4-2, one win away from ALCS

The Astros have two wins in their ALDS series with the Royals and both wins reflected the way they have won games all year long.

  • Great basis. Starting pitching makes it tough for the other team to score. Collin McHugh gave up 2 HRs, but only 2 runs in 6 tough innings in Game 1; Dallas Keuchel pitched like pitch counts are only for mortals giving up one solo HR in 7 innings of brilliant ball to win Game 3.
  • Just enough offense. In game one they rode a bunch of hits from the top of the lineup and a home run each from Rasmus and Springer to score 5 runs. In game 3 the bottom of the order led the way with Carter’s 3 hits including a home run and a double and a key 2 run 2 out single by Castro resulting in  4 runs.
  • Just enough bullpen. Thursday night the bullpen put up 0’s for 3 innings, while on Sunday, they gave one run up in 2 innings to preserve the win.

The Astros have been here before in the playoffs. The 1980 loss to the Phillies was one where the team handed back a 2-1 series lead, losing two extra inning games to break the hearts of all of H-Town. But that was 35 years ago, when only Chad Qualls was alive. (And I guess Chad is not active for this round).

So…..

  • Does Lance McCullers Jr. close this out tomorrow?
  • Who will be the next unlikely hero for this team?
  • Are you worried? Confident?
  • What is the most important thing for this Astros team to do to close out the AL defending champions?
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134 comments on “ALDS Game 3 recap: Astros 4-2, one win away from ALCS”

  1. I’m so wound up I probably won’t sleep at all tonight.

    LMJ ..can.. close it out tomorrow but the offense has to get it together and score early.

    Could be anyone. Rasmus is on fire but he probably won’t see any thing good to hit.
    Maybe Carter again.

    I’m worried. But then I’ve been worried since the middle of September. I was confident in 80 and 86.

    They have to get Gattis out of the lineup or at least move him down. Id like to see someone else DH. If they just don’t trust Tucker then let Carter DH. Don’t know who would play first though.

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  2. WOOOO WOOOO That’s the sound of me practicing breathing. We can do it, we get 5 runs we move on (-: Altuve needs to provide the spark every at bat!

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  3. I am worried and confident ( and then worried about being confident). I think Lance just might do it. Given today’s hitting stars—-Carter, Gomez and Castro, it seems anyone could be the surprise tomorrow. Never, ever thought Castro would come through. I’ll go with Gomez tomorrow.

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  4. Baseball is always the craziest sport. Castro looked so clueless and gets the big hit of the game. Carter did not have a 3 hit game all year and he gets one in the playoffs.
    I loved Keuchel gutting it out. It means so much to the team to see him step up and want that ball all the way to 124 pitches.
    It was an inspiring win.

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  5. Had the privilege of attending my first Astros postseason game today.

    WOW!!!

    Seeing a full stadium, packed bright orange, and the thunder of the fans… was amazing. Simply amazing. I hadn’t felt that at MMP since Clemens last season here. And this blew that away.

    Going tomorrow also 🙂 Let’s go LMJ!!

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  6. Every win is like icing on the cake that has been this season.

    When Jed Lowrie went down, I thought this season was done for. When Scott Feldman went down — the first time — I thought the same thing. And when George Springer went down, after just starting to get hot, it felt like a punch to the gut.

    There are a lot of nagging injuries right now — Gomez, Gonzalez — that it’s hard to imagine how the Astros will win. But win they are.

    LMJ just needs to pitch with some fire but without overthrowing. If this doesn’t work, the Astros bring McHugh back for Game 5. Between the two of them, I have some real confidence.

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  7. 1. Do I think McCullers can finish this out? I think the importance of tomorrow’s game will have him pretty hyped up, and cause him to get ahead of himself.
    He doesn’t have to throw 100 mph to get outs. He has had a tendency to run up his pitch count, but I believe he will give you EVERYTHING he’s got.
    2. Whose gonna be the next unsung hero? Lord who knows! I hope it will be more than one!!
    3.am I worried or confident? A whole lot of both! I’m worried about the bullpen, and I’m confident that the middle infield is gonna get to those balls. The outfield has three center fielders, so unless they hit a homerun, they got this!!
    4.What’s the most important thing to close this out tomorrow?
    Play a clean game, take your pitches, and make THEM get you out.
    Hit the DANG ball if you have men on base.

    I think the Royals thought they were going to march in here and take two games.And who knows that might still happen, but I think the Astros are hungry for these games, and the Royals are a bit stunned that they find themselves down 2 games to 1.
    Today’s game shot my blood pressure sky high, so let’s not have our closer try to get 4 outs tomorrow..OK? You can say over and over that we went supposed to be where we are…..but ya know what? THEY ARE!! So it’s time to reach back in your bag of tricks and win this thing!!
    P.S. The team in Arlington is LOSING!!! Thank you baseball Gods!!

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  8. Everyone, and I mean everyone, including myself, wanted Carter gone in August, but no one has stepped up bigger than he has in September and October. The Astros probably don’t even make the playoffs without Carter carrying them in September. Now, I realize some will argue we may not have needed his heroics this past month or so if he stepped up the first 5 months of the season, and I can’t dispute that, but, right now, I am thankful Luhnow and Hinch ignored the screams from Astros fans to get rid of Carter. He was a one-man wrecking crew today and his HR in Seattle the last road trip probably saved their season. Let’s see how long we can ride the big guys shoulders.

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  9. Rangers lost 5-1 tonight. Note to everyone playing against the Blue Jays, do NOT pitch to Tulo…..he hit a 3 run bomb to put the game away tonight!!

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  10. No more Astros gear for me during the playoffs. My grandson spilled his coke on my Special Astros shirt. As soon as I changed the scoring started.
    It stays in the closet till the season ends. 😐

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  11. I look for the young guys to step up today. And we’re going to need help from someone else in the pen, maybe Fields, Fiers, heck you might even see Kazmir in there to get a lefty out.

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    • To be honest, not really, Steeeve. To me, after watching Chris for three years, I consider us the beneficiary of the ‘blind squirrel syndrome’. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile. I am, of course, very glad for the team that Chris finally had a big day – a big day we have suffered greatly waiting for all year. I am extremely thankful – and glad for him and for his chances of being signed by another team in the offseason – that he had that long-time coming big day at such an opportune time. I certainly hope he has more big days the rest of this playoff run. But I am not buying into him for the future. He has proven, over three years now, who he is, and that he is simply not a reliable player for a whole season. Most of the time, he is a K machine and an albatross around this team’s neck. Good for him that he has had a few moments of redemption. But we need to move on in the offseason.

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      • Carter should be a DH. His OBP and power production justify employing him at that position. I like Duffy and want to see White. I’m not convinced Tucker is the better option at DH yet. He has some big home runs for us, but extended at-bats exposed him pretty badly. Also, Carter performs about the same against LHP or RHP.

        If Carter is playing elsewhere next year I will wish him luck. If he plays in Houston, I will grumble about the Ks and enjoy the blind squirrel (as you call them) eruptions.

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  13. One thing in the Astros DNA: never do it the easy way. They for sure can win it, but not before Game 5 (probably in extra innings!)

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  14. I did think it was interesting on the broadcast when they highlighted the change in the way Carter holds his bat that was made during his 10 day “vacation” in early September. He had been holding the bat almost straight up. They changed it to where his bat was angled back over his shoulder behind his head and now he can hit.

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  16. Waaay too much drama at my house today. One of my grandsons is in surgery because of a tumor in his leg (Tanners little brother) and my adopted children are trying to move on to a bigger stage this afternoon!! I don’t care who the hero will be today with these guys…..just as long as we can meet back here with a win!!
    The last time we played a playoff game that stated at noon at Minute Maid……it lasted forever, and Chris Burke was THE guy!! So…..I’ll be pacing the floor for Tucker, and for my boys in orange. GO ‘STROS!!

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    • Becky I’m assuming Tucker is your grandson, not the unused Astro. We will be praying for him and for your adopted kids in Orange today.
      I believe that the Chris Burke series winning HR is the only time in Astro history they won a playoff series at home. There should have been a second one, but Mr. Pujols saved that one for the Cardinals.
      I am hoping they win this one in regulation about 12-0 so I won’t die of a heart attack at my desk.

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      • Yes, Tucker is 9yrs old and he’s my little baseball player. The sweetest little boy in the world! He played a playoff game yesterday in Memphis, and they won! The tumor is located in his fibula, it’s called a “Non Ossining Fibroma” not cancer, just a tumor usually found on the outside of the bone, but Tucker is on the inside of the big bone.
        They have to cut the bone to go inside to remove the tumor……he’s more angry that he won’t be able to play baseball for 6-9 months!! He’s in surgery now, and our son said he would call when they meet with the doc’s when it’s over. Neither one of these problems can I do anything about…..and I feel helpless. I want the guys to play a clean game today, and that Lance McCullers pitches like we know he can!
        Nervous doesn’t even BEGIN to describe me today!!

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      • I think you are right about us not winning any other playoff series’ at home, Dan. But these guys are full of surprises. May your let’s-break-out-the-bats and circle-the-bases prediction of a 12-0 win today come true!

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  19. I know it is only a small thing and hopefully the swinging coach (I hate to call him hitting coach) may have brought this up with him, but my direction to Gattis would be to not swing at anything until you actually have a called strike on you. Maybe the coach could show him video of his last 100 swings with the ball either 1 foot below the knees or 2 feet outside the plate with the actual strike zone super-imposed.
    Maybe he could bring in a world famous physicist to state that it is impossible to hit balls that are farther away than your arms and bat can reach….
    Right now there is no reason to throw Gattis a strike. None. He will swing if it is within sight not if it is within reach. Even when Carter stunk, he would take walks.
    Something has to change.

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    • This kind of futility is exactly the way Evan Gattis started the year. As I recall he was like 0 for his first 18 or so, mostly ugly strikeouts, and he looked totally over-matched at the plate every PA. The playoffs have him back in that mode. He’s back in the line-up today, so I hope this is the day he turns the corner. But not using Preston Tucker as DH in light of Evan’s total deer-in-the-headlights blundering through the playoffs thus far has me scratching my head once again.

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    • I am, too. He took a high changeup yesterday, that he usually jumps all over. He appears to be in a slump like he was at the beginning of the year. He’s trying so hard. They all are. I hope he and Correa can find a couple of pitches they like today.

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  21. My thoughts/prayers are with your grandson, Becky.

    Did anyone other than me wonder why in Gattis’ next to last at bat— with a runner on third– and I believe just 1 out— he did not bunt? Not a suicide squeeze—just a bunt. He was missing pitches so badly, that it just seemed like something that was worth a try.

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  23. My husband told me yesterday that I was not allowed to yell at the television today!
    He said “they can’t hear you”…….oh yes they can! Lance just needs to trust HIS stuff, and trust his guys playing behind him. He can only take care of himself, and I hope he does just that! I’m not totally convinced that Gomez is feeling all that good. He grabbed at his side yesterday, after one of his famous swing outta his shoes. If the guy is hurt, he doesn’t do anyone any favors by trying to swing the bat.

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    • But somehow Gomez got a key hit and made a beautiful running catch 400′ from home plate. Unless he starts bleeding out the side like Robert Redford in The Natural – I hope he will be OK. Maybe he will bounce one off the lights above the Crawford Boxes.

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  26. Praying for our boys in orange today! Hoping that LMJ can harness the nerves and wildness! I’m not going to be able to watch it but will be following it. Great job as always guys. Gattis is DUE!

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  27. 5 minute warning folks!! There is no shame in playing small ball……so get the guy over, if you can! SITUATIONAL HITTING will be the key to this game today!

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  29. That is a beautiful, ho-hum 15 pitch inning by McCullers. And Becky, I’m glad you got the good news and can now enjoy the ballgame!

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  31. Ok…..let’s say that was a payback pitch, but if Ventura hits another hitter he should be thrown outta this game. I think we all know the reputation the Royals have around the league by hitting batters.

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  35. True to form, McCullers gives up two runs early, then says “nope” you ain’t getting anymore. Devin…..unless his arm is hanging by a thread, Correa is gutting through the pain. Gattis is totally worthless right now.

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  38. It would be interesting to find out how many times McCullers has given up 2runs, and then nothing else. Ok one of you baseball geeks tell us how many games he has done that!! What a performance today for our shiny new pitcher who will pitch for us fr a looong time!! What a great game!

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  39. For anyone who is missing what is happening….
    The Astros are leading 3-2 in the bottom of the 6th inning. McCullers gave up a 2 run jack in the 2nd and nothing else. The Astros climbed back into it with solo HRs by Gomez and Correa. Then the Captain (Correa) knocked in Springer with a double in the 5th.

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    • For those stuck without info – Correa launches a 2 run HR in the 7th for a 5-2 lead.
      He has 2 HR / 1 double and 4 RBIs as he and fellow 21 year old LMJ are trying to prove that the future is now.
      I’m betting Minute Maid is about to levitate from the sound!!

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