Who needs a full complement of rest heading into the MLB playoffs' Certainly not Houston Astros ace Dallas Keuchel.The dominant southpaw took the mound on short rest for the first time in his career Tuesday in the do-or-die American League Wild Card Game and shut out the New York Yankees in six innings on the way to a 3-0 victory. In all, Keuchel notched seven strikeouts and only allowed three hits in those six frames and silenced a raucous crowd at Yankee Stadium.MLB Stat of the Day pointed out it was more of the same from Houston's ace against the Bronx Bombers:The win marked the fifth postseason shutout in Houston's history and the first on the road, as Ace of MLB Stats noted.The Astros got two solo home runs off New York starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka from Colby Rasmus and Carlos Gomez and an RBI single from Jose Altuve, which was more than enough offense with Keuchel on the mound.SportsCenterhighlighted the impressive turnaround from the Astros, and Baseball Tonightshared the celebration:The Yankees made news before the game even started when they elected not to start Jacoby Ellsbury after he went 0-for-8 in October and hit .217 in September.SportsCentermade an interesting comparison between the two lineups:Rasmus got the scoring started in the top of the second inning with a long drive to right field in the first pitch of his at-bat. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com noted it was Rasmus' first career postseason home run, although ESPN Stats & Info highlighted that the outfielder was on fire coming into Tuesday's contest (and just how long it was between playoff homers for Houston):Jesse Spector of Sporting News pointed out the long ball was one problem for Tanaka, who allowed 25 home runs in 24 starts this season coming into Tuesday's game:The first-pitch swing from Rasmus was not an accident. Houston hitters actually swung at the first three pitches of the second inning, andEvan Gattis nearly hit a home run as well but was robbed of a hit at the wall by Brett Gardner. Brian T. Smith of theHouston Chroniclerecognized the aggressiveness:The first-pitch swinging continued in the top of the fourth when Gomez took Tanaka's first offering of the inning deep to left to open up a 2-0 lead for the Astros. ESPN's Danny Kanell commented on the early struggles from the Yankees pitcher:The initial Houston lead was a problem for New York because Keuchel was dialed in during the first few innings. Jordan Brenner of ESPN The Magazinesuggested as much, while Ted Keith ofSports Illustratednoted the Yankees' opposite approach to Houston's was not paying off:New York pulled Tanaka after five innings and 83 pitches. While he gave up the two home runs, he limited the damage and kept his team in the game. Wallace Matthews of ESPN.com thought it was too early to cut the starter's night short:While Tanaka was solid, his counterpart, Keuchel, retired 10 in a row before allowing a leadoff single to Didi Gregorius in the top of the sixth. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com acknowledged the significance of the moment:Carlos Beltran lined a two-out single to center to bring up Alex Rodriguez in New York's most important at-bat of the game. He didn't deliver and hit a weak fly out to center with two runners on base. ESPN Stats & Info pointed out it was business as usual for A-Rod in critical October situations:Houston then made Rodriguez and Company pay when it manufactured an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning. Chris Carter walked, Jonathan Villar pinch ran and Altuve blooped a single into left to stretch the score to 3-0. Evan Drellich of the Houston Chroniclepraised Altuve, while Smith pointed to one problem for any team dealing with the Astros:Houston went to the bullpen in the bottom half of the seventh with Keuchel on short rest, and Tony Sipp danced out of trouble after a one-out walk. Will Harris took the ball in the eighth and shut the door with a 1-2-3 inning to set the stage for the final three outs of New York's season.Luke Gregerson and his 31 saves entered in the bottom of the ninth and proceeded to strike out Beltran and Rodriguez in a perfect frame to clinch the team's first postseason victory since the 2005 National League Championship Series.Postgame ReactionSportsCenternoted the Yankees became the sixth team in the divisional era to finish in the top two in the league in runs scored and get shut out in a postseason elimination game the same year.Ryan Dunsmore of SB Nation's theCrawfish Boxes passed along a quote from center fielder Carlos Gomez summarizing how anomalies like that happen in October:Part of the reason the Yankees didn't score a run was Rodriguez' critical out in the sixth inning. Manager Joe Girardi said "I thought that was going to be the moment for us," per Mark Feinsand of theNew York Daily News.While New York's failure to come through in the clutch will stick out from Tuesday's contest, Houston deserves plenty of credit for coming into Yankee Stadium and dictating the outcome from the early innings. Shortstop Carlos Correa commented on his team's mindset, per Jose de Jesus Ortiz of theHouston Chronicle:"We came here to get the job done and we did."Girardi recognized the dominance of Keuchel and said, "We didn't solve Keuchel. All year," per Alyson Footer of MLB.com.Girardi summed up the game perfectly.What's Next'The Astros now head to the American League Divisional Series to take on the Kansas City Royals and their 95-67 record. The Royals are the defending American League champions and will enjoy home-field advantage in the series, but Houston did finish 4-2 against Kansas City this year, including a three-game sweep in Minute Maid Park.One problem for the Astros is they were forced to use Keuchel on Tuesday and will be one behind in the pitching matchups.Per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com), Kansas City will start flamethrower Yordano Ventura on Thursday in Game 1 after he went 4-1 with a 3.14 ERA in seven September starts. Johnny Cueto will toe the rubber in Game 2 for the team with the American League's best record.While the Astros will certainly have their hands full against a formidable Kansas City squad, they made a profound statement during Tuesday's pressure-packed victory over the franchise with 27 World Series titles.
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