After suffering a tough Game 2 loss to the Kansas City Royals, Game 3 is pretty much a must-win for the Houston Astros with the series tied at one game apiece and the loser of the game heading to the brink of elimination.
However, Houston is in pretty good hands.
Ace Dallas Keuchel (20-8) takes the mound for Game 3, opposing Edinson Volquez (13-9) of the Royals.
Not only is Keuchel a 20-game winner, but he is a spectacular 15-0 in his home stadium.
Keuchel has one game of postseason experience - his six innings of shutout ball against the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card Game.
The veteran journeyman Volquez has only two games of playoff experience - he his 0-2 with a 12.15 ERA. His most recent playoff appearance came with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2014 when he was the losing pitcher in the National League Wild Card Game.
Volquez is not a good matchup against the Astros; Houston was second in the MLB with 230 home runs and Volquez has surrendered 16 home runs in 34 appearances. It was certainly not the highest mark in the league, but the number definitely ranked in the bottom 10 percent of the league. In Volquez's lone appearance against Houston, he gave up five runs in five innings, took a no-decision, and gave up two home runs.
Kansas City has had some success in limited chances against Keuchel, but Houston's ace has just been dominant at home. Keuchel faced the Royals twice this year, once at home and once in Kansas City. In his Kansas City showing, Keuchel hurled 6.2 innings but gave up five runs. But, when Keuchel faced the Royals in Houston, he fired eight shutout frames and led Houston to a 4-0 win. Keuchel posted some incredible statistics this year that you don't see by looking at his 20-8 record and 2.48 ERA. He pitched at least six innings in every game except one bad outing at Texas, his only real bad outing of the year. In 18 home starts, Keuchel has posted 17 quality starts and 27 quality starts in 33 overall starts. Keuchel did not allow a run in 10 appearances and allowed two runs or fewer 21 times. He has pitched to a 1.46 ERA at Houston's Minute-Maid Park.
Meanwhile, Volquez allowed no runs in just one of his 33 starts and has been ousted before the sixth inning a whopping 12 times.
There is no doubt that the edge on the mound belongs to Houston and with Houston's great power bats, particularly the red-hot bat of Colby Rasmus (three home runs in three playoff games so far), Houston is in great position to win Game 3 and push the defending American League champions to the brink of elimination.