Stats of the Day: Keuchel in elite Astros company
Here are five interesting items from Division Series action this weekend …
• On Sunday, Dallas Keuchel allowed a run in seven innings as the Astros defeated the Royals, 4-2, in Game 3 of the American League Division Series. Keuchel joined Mike Scott (1986) as the only Astros pitchers to open a postseason career with starts and wins in each of their first two appearances. Scott was 2-0 with two complete games and allowed eight hits and one run (0.50 ERA) with 19 strikeouts and a walk. Keuchel is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings, has allowed eight hits and has fanned 14 with four walks.
• Chris Carter -- who singled, doubled and homed in the Astros' Game 3 win -- became the 145th player in postseason history to color in three-quarters of the cycle and the 104th player to fall a triple shy of the cycle. The last player before Carter to do this was the Royals' Alex Gordon in Game 1 of the 2014 AL Championship Series. Craig Biggio, in Game 4 of the 2004 National League Division Series, is the only other Astros player to do this.
Video: KC@HOU Gm3: Carter tallies three hits, homers in win
• On Sunday, the Blue Jays kept elimination at bay with a 5-1 win against the Rangers in their ALDS Game 3. Troy Tulowitzki drove in four runs, the first coming on a bases-loaded walk in the fourth and the final three coming via a sixth-inning home run. Tulowitzki became the 15th shortstop in the postseason to drive in at least four runs, with Omar Vizquel's six in Game 3 of the 2001 ALDS the highest tally. Teams seeing their shortstop have a four-RBI day are now 14-1, with the lone loss being experienced by the Phillies, after Jimmy Rollins drove in four in Game 2 of the 2007 NLDS.
• On Saturday, the Cubs used a five-run second inning to take their first lead of the NLDS, and held on for a 6-3 win in Game 2. Making his first postseason start, 23-year-old Jorge Soler doubled and homered, drew two walks and drove in two runs. The Cubs have had two others author a postseason line with at least two extra-base hits, at least two RBIs and at least four (safe) times on base: 25-year-old Mark Grace in Game 2 of the 1989 NL Championship Series and 25-year-old Aramis Ramirez in Game 4 of the 2003 NLCS.
Video: Must C Crucial: Cubs erupt with five runs in the 2nd
• On Saturday, Zack Greinke allowed a pair of solo homers but posted a win as the Dodgers defeated the Mets, 5-2, and evened their NLDS at one game apiece. Greinke is one of 13 Dodgers to have at least five starts in the postseason. Among them, his 2.06 ERA is the fourth lowest and his 0.714 WHIP is the lowest. In the former category, Sandy Koufax (0.95), Orel Hershiser (1.71) and Fernando Valenzuela (2.00) are lower. Koufax owns the second-lowest WHIP: 0.825.