Lance McCullers, Brad Peacock Lead Astros to 2-1 World Series Lead over Dodgers

The Houston Astros seized momentum in the 2017 World Series with a dramatic extra-innings win in Game 2 and maintained it Friday with a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 at Minute Maid Park to take a 2-1 lead in the Fall Classic.

Lance McCullers Jr. entered Friday's contest with a 2.08 ERA in these playoffs and earned the win while allowing three earned runs, four hits and four walks while striking out three in 5.1 innings.

However, the pitching story was Brad Peacock, who entered in the sixth with McCullers in trouble and didn't allow a single earned run or hit while finishing the 3.2-inning save.

Yuli Gurriel's solo home run spearheaded a four-run effort in the bottom of the second for a Houston offense that tallied 12 total hits and provided enough support.

McCullers and Peacock Shine in Victory

McCullers deserved better than his final stat line considering he exited with his team ahead 5-1.

The only run with him on the mound occurred in the third, when he walked the first three hitters but limited the damage by inducing a double play from Corey Seager and a groundout from Justin Turner.

He found trouble in the sixth when he walked Seager and allowed a double to Turner, but his strikeout of Cody Bellinger ended his night on a high note. The right-hander consistently went to his curveball in the critical moments with multiple runners on, as Matt Kelly of MLB.com pointed out:

Despite the impressive showing, he was charged with three runs because Peacock allowed both inherited runners to score on an RBI groundout from Yasiel Puig and a wild pitch with Turner on third.

However, Peacock emerged as the hero with the game hanging in the balance during the final four innings. He struck out four and worked 1-2-3 efforts in both the eighth and the ninth as the driving force in the bullpen with closer Ken Giles watching.

According to Jon Morosi, Peacock joined San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner as the only players since 1981 to notch an 11-out save in the Fall Classic.

Astros Knock Yu Darvish Out in Second Inning

Houston scored one run in Game 1 and one run through the first seven innings of Game 2, but it wasted little time breaking out the bats Friday. Dodgers starter Yu Darvish allowed four earned runs—all in the second—and six hits while striking out zero in 1.2 innings.

The second inning was a merry-go-round of hits for the Astros offense that led the league in runs scored this season. Gurriel's smoked line drive cleared the left field wall in a hurry, and a double from Josh Reddick, a walk from Evan Gattis, an RBI single from Marwin Gonzalez and an RBI single from Brian McCann kept things rolling.

Even Darvish's outs were loud in the frame, with a sharp lineout from George Springer and a hard-hit sacrifice fly from Alex Bregman that scored Gonzalez.

The result was Darvish's shortest start of his career, per Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.

Gurriel's long ball stood out, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post provided a stat underlying the impressive depth on both sides of this matchup:

Dodgers Bullpen Provides a Silver Lining

Los Angeles' bullpen didn't allow a run in the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs but was touched for six earned runs in Game 2 against Houston on Wednesday.

If the Dodgers are going to come back in this series, they need their bullpen to return to form. That is what happened Friday, as Kenta Maeda, Tony Watson, Brandon Morrow, Tony Cingrani and Ross Stripling combined to allow zero earned runs and six hits while striking out six in 6.1 innings.

The only run that scored against the group was unearned, as Reddick came across in the fifth when Watson threw a ball into right field on Gattis' grounder. The numbers would have looked worse if Springer's bases-loaded blast against Stripling went another foot before Chris Taylor caught it in front of the center field wall.

Mike Petriello of MLB.com highlighted how rare outs on hits like that were this year:

Maeda in particular stood out, as he retired Carlos Correa with runners on second and third base in the second to bail out Darvish on his way to 2.2 shutout innings.

Despite Friday's loss, the Dodgers and their bullpen need to win just one of two remaining games in Houston to seize home-field advantage and push the series back to Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium.

They will turn to Alex Wood in Saturday's Game 4 with the hopes of doing just that. While he has allowed three home runs in 4.2 innings this postseason, he also posted career-best marks with a 2.72 ERA and 1.06 WHIP during the regular season.

The Los Angeles offense will also have the chance to get back on track against right-hander Charlie Morton, who has a 6.23 ERA in 13 innings this postseason.