Home field is an advantage again
Astros improve to 7-0 in postseason, take 2-1 series lead
HOUSTON — Built like an airplane hangar, named after orange juice, the contours of Minute Maid Park screams of camp.
The foul poles are sponsored by Chick-fil-A. A conductor runs a train beyond the left-field fence, high above the Crawford Boxes, which beckon for home runs by being only 315 feet from the plate. The retractable roof creates a caldron of noise.
In the second inning of Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night, the quirks of this ballpark taunted Dodgers starter Yu Darvish as the Astros battered him en route to a 5-3 victory to take a 2-1 series lead.
The Crawford Boxes swallowed up a homer smashed by Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel. The building rattled with so much noise that Darvish had to duck his head so catcher Austin Barnes could shout instructions in his ear. The advice wasn’t enough.
The Astros sizzled line drives through the air, enough for four runs, building a deficit that the Dodgers offense could not overcome and creating a mess for manager Dave Roberts with implications beyond Friday’s loss. The Astros remain unbeaten at home in the postseason and the Dodgers now understand why.
The crowd serenaded Darvish with jeers when Roberts exited the dugout with two outs in the second inning. The abbreviated outing forced Roberts to ride Kenta Maeda for 22⁄3 innings, which effectively removes him from appearing in Game 4 and possibly Game 5. Maeda kept the Dodgers within sight of the Astros, but the offense bumbled away early opportunities and could not convert against the Astros bullpen.
As Darvish crumbled, his teammates picked an inopportune time to play sloppy baseball.
They ran into outs on the bases. They made two errors in the field. The quartet of Chris Taylor, Corey Seager, Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger went 1-for-13. Bellinger struck out four times, including thrice against Astros starter Lance McCullers.
As the Astros prepared to hit in the bottom of the first, the massive scoreboard in right field replayed the highlights from Game 2. There was Yasiel Puig diving and missing a crucial double by third baseman Alex Bregman, outfielder Marwin Gonzalez taking Kenley Jansen deep and George Springer launching the game-winning homer off Brandon McCarthy.
In the aftermath of Wednesday’s bullpen collapse, Roberts weathered a hail of denunciations for his management of the team’s pitching staff. He intended to follow a similar process on Friday.
“When you do things that aren’t reactive and do things that we do as an organization to get ahead of things, you open yourself up to criticism,” Roberts said.
Darvish had thrived inside this strange space. In six starts at Minute Maid Park, all made while he pitched for the Rangers, he owned a 4-1 record with a 2.16 ERA. Most of those outings occurred against an Astros team tanking to rebuild and reach this stage.
The unit he faced on Friday is far different. He escaped the first inning after allowing a leadoff double to Springer. The second inning was a horror show.
Gurriel’s leadoff homer soared over the Crawford Boxes and set the crowd afire. The noise would only increase.
In the next at-bat, former Dodger Josh Reddick stroked an opposite-field double. Darvish missed with sliders and fastballs to walk designated hitter Evan Gattis. The skittishness caused Roberts to visit the mound. He counseled Darvish for a few moments before departing.
The message did not land. Gonzalez lifted a hanging slider into leftcenter field. The baseball carried until it banged off the wall for a well-struck RBI single. Brian McCann fouled off four pitches before lacing a 94 mph fastball for an RBI single.
The hit turned over the Astros lineup and subjected Darvish to more danger. Springer lined out to second base, with an exit velocity of 105 mph. Bregman hit a 103-mph liner to center field for a sacrifice fly.
Roberts allowed Darvish to face one more batter. It was Jose Altuve, the Astros’ undersized MVP candidate. Altuve smashed a cutter off the wall for a double.
For the Dodgers offense, a four-run deficit in this ballpark was far from insurmountable, but the hitters squandered a series of openings.
McCullers walked the first three battersin the third inning, loading the bases for Seager, who grounded into a double play that undercut the rally.
An inning later, Puig rolled a single past Bregman but was thrown out trying for second base. Joc Pederson’s one-out double was wasted in the fifth.