Houston Astros: Zack Greinke will face intense pressure in Game 3

Houston Astros pitcher Zack Greinke will face an immense amount of pressure in tonight’s Game 3. Why? Let’s take a look at his history against the Nats.

The Houston Astros have dug themselves a rather deep 2-0 hole in the World Series and it’s up to them to climb their way back into this contest of seven games.  They absolutely have the talent and the firepower to get the job done but it’s not going to be easy at Nationals Park, where the environment will be raucous as fans are celebrating playing in their first Fall Classic since 1924.  This will be the first time the franchise has played in late October in its current rendition.

But you know what’s the problem?  The Houston Astros have had trouble stranding their runners.  This team has always been deft at being able to get on base but the biggest problem is getting our guys off the bases and to the home plate, not straight to the dugout after getting three outs at any given inning.

This type of baseball isn’t a winning formula because the Nationals are doing the exact opposite and have benefited tremendously from doing so.  They’ve done this the entire postseason and it’s exactly the reason as to why they’ve been so successful.

They’ve knocked off baseball franchises that have traditionally had a large number of accomplishments in their respective histories having gone through the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers.  That’s no easy feat and it’s totally taken this postseason by surprise.  Well, except for the illustrious Ben Reiter, who predicted early this season that the Nats would be able to get the final round of the postseason.

But let’s break down the numbers — the Houston Astros are 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position through the first two games.  They’ve also stranded 20 runners as well.

In comparison, the Nats 9-for-21 while stranding only 12 runners and although it looks things are close with these stats, it’s the timely hitting that the Houston Astros‘ opponent is able to make that’s made a difference in this series.

Juan Soto, Adam Eaton, Asdrubal Cabrera, Ryan Zimmerman, Howie Kendrick and even Kurt

More from House of Houston

• Are you the 2021 FanSided Sports Fan of the Year?
• Houston Texans: 4 reasons Romeo Crennel is right coach right now
• Astros-Twins Wild Card Series: 5 things to know as MLB postseason begins
• Houston Texans: The Most Underrated Sports Drought Ever
• Houston Texans: J.J. Watt’s early case for NFL Hall of Fame

Suzuki are getting it done and they’re allowing things to slip out of the Houston Astros‘ hands.

They cannot let things get out of hand like this tonight as Zack Greinke takes the bump.  He will be facing a lot of pressure as the Houston Astros are trying to climb their way back into this series.

But it’s good to know that Greinke has a terrific record against the Nats, having been a pitcher that has spent his career in both the American/National League.

He’s had nine career starts against the Nats to which he has a 6-1 record, a 1.27 ERA while tossing 49 strikeouts to eight home runs through 56.2 innings pitched.  He also has an outstanding 0.829 WHIP against them as well.

However, this is the postseason and this Nats’ is different than the other versions that he has faced but it’s good to know that the history against this franchise is incredibly good.

It’ll be up to Zack to carry this team on his back and help them gain their respectability back in this Fall Classic because it has been taken away with the Nats have done to them.

We’ll have to keep an eye out and I’m hoping for the best — let’s go Houston Astros!