The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros face off at Minute Maid Park in game 3 of the American League Championship Series as Nathan Eovaldi and Dallas Keuchel take the mound.
Keuchel will benefit from playing at home (where the Astros are 10-1 since the start of last year’s postseason) and from his postseason experience.
Although Keuchel only lasted five innings in his last start in the ALDS and he isn’t the same he was when he won the Cy Young, Keuchel still throws fastballs that top 90 miles per hour, he sinks the ball really well and owns the bottom of the pitching zone to get a lot of ground balls off batters.
If Keuchel manages to keep the Red Sox sluggers in the ballpark the Astros will probably take the lead in this series.
Eovaldi meanwhile has to figure something out to subdue the Astros as they have been able to hit him this season. Five players have been able to homer off Eovaldi in 2018: Jose Altuve (2), Alex Bregman, Evan Gattis, George Springer, and Tyler White, so the Astros have a really good track record against him and should be comfortable with this matchup.
On the bright side, Eovaldi is coming off a very good game against the Yankees in the ALDS where he pitched seven innings, gave up one run and struck out five batters.
Nonetheless, expect the Astros to have a good game against Eovaldi, so if the top of the Red Sox lineup fails to show up in this one, the Astros will take this game easily.
Altuve will benefit from playing at home, where he usually thrives, and from starting at the designated hitter position. His bat is crucial for Houston, so instead of giving him the night off, he will be used at the DH position as the Astros look to rest his bothersome knee, which he tweaked during the ALDS against the Indians earlier in the month.
The Astros are also going to also put Tony Kemp and Brian McCann at the bottom of the lineup as manager A.J. Hinch wants to use a couple of lefthanders against Eovaldi.
