Astros face All-Star Alex Wood to put themselves in position to clinch World Series
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- If there's any indication that this Houston Astros team is special, you can look at the unprecedented things they have done in the postseason.
Not content with just winning their first ever World Series game in Los Angeles, the Astros peeled off the franchise's first ever Series win in Houston.
In addition, Houston has won seven straight home games to start a postseason, matching a mark previous achieved by the 2008 champs Philadelphia Phillies.
Probably the most telling of stats on the Astros' path to a title, which is two wins away, is that the team induced the Los Angeles Dodgers - a seemingly unstoppable team in the latter part of the regular season and the entirety of the playoffs - to two consecutive losses in the postseason. This is something that not even the now-dethroned world champion Chicago Cubs can claim.
In retrospect, it may not be a great omen when the Dodgers dropped 11 games in a row just last month in the regular season.
Still, a confident Astros team will have to keep up momentum in Game 4, especially against L.A.'s all-star pitcher Alex Wood, who observers considered the team's de facto No. 1 starter when Clayton Kershaw was sidelined by injury in the middle of the season.
The left-handed Wood has been nothing short of brilliant in the regular season. Of 27 appearances, Wood went 16-3 with a career-best winning percentage of .842 and an ERA of 2.72
Despite the glowing regular season results, Wood held the Dodgers' lone loss of the postseason before the World Series, dropping a decision in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series against the Cubs. In that game, Wood pitched four-and-two-thirds innings with four hits, three earned runs, three home runs and seven strikeouts.
In a crucial road game for the Dodgers, manager Dave Roberts is looking for Wood, who is pitching on 10 days' rest, to go as far as he can in the pivotal contest.
Unfortunately, his starters, save for Clayton Kershaw, have not been keen to that edict in the World Series. In Game 2, Rich Hill pitched four innings before making way to a bullpen that coughed up a two-run lead. In Game 3, Yu Davish was pulled after an inning and two-thirds, the earliest ever that he has left a game.
For Roberts, Wood's success will be needed given the lack of success so far from his relievers.
On the flipside, the Astros will send Charlie Morton to the hill a week after his masterful performance in Game 7 of the ALCS at home. Houston got the maximum out of Morton, who pitched five scoreless innings in route to the pennant.
The Astros will look to keep the foot on the accelerator on offense. Since the eighth inning of Game 2, the Astros have outscored the Dodgers, 11-6, after starting the World Series down 6-2.
Game 3 saw significant contributions from the bottom half of the order, with Yuli Gurriel, Josh Reddick and Brian McCann hitting multiple times in the game. The team's .333 batting average was actually an improvement from Game 2's home run bombs in L.A.
First pitch at Minute Maid Park is set for 7 p.m.
A 10-foot tall rooster, free hot dogs, head-shaving and pumpkin carvings: We've got all the World Series bases covered.
