HOUSTON -- Tabbed to face Clayton Kershaw in World Series Game 5 on Sunday, Dallas Keuchel knew he might need to be nearly perfect to give the Astros a Series edge. Instead he could not make it out of the fourth inning at Minute Maid Park, handing his bullpen a 4-0 deficit. The bats more than made up for it, with five homers en route to a walk-off, 13-12 win in extras to take a 3-2 Series lead.
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Struggling from the game's opening moments, Keuchel loaded the bases on a hit and two walks, as the Dodgers refused to chase his pitches out of the zone. A two-run John Forsythe single put Keuchel in an early hole, and a Yuli Gurriel error added a third, unearned run to his ledger.
Though Keuchel settled down to retire eight straight, a double by Forsythe -- his former college teammate at Arkansas -- led to another rally in the fourth. Forsythe scored on an Austin Barnes single and, after Charlie Culberson legged out an infield hit, Astros manager A.J. Hinch left the dugout to retrieve Keuchel. At that point the left-hander was already at 86 pitches.
In two World Series games, Keuchel has a 5.23 ERA, with five strikeouts and four walks in 10 1/3 innings.