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It's a great time to love amazing postseason stats

The numbers for Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve at home this postseason are out of this world.

He’s hitting .591 with a 1.913 OPS, thanks to five home runs at Minute Maid Park. He’s 13-for-22 with three walks. That's a big reason why the Astros are 6-0 at home this postseason.

As the World Series shifts back to Houston, it’s a great time to be an Altuve fan and a great time to be a fan of amazing postseason numbers.

Altuve's home-field numbers top the list. He's hit safely in all six home games this postseason. He's had multiple hits in the first five of those, matching the longest streak of multi-hit games at home to start a postseason (others to start a postseason with five straight such games are Thurman Munson, John Valentin, David Ortiz and Ryan Braun).

Speaking of home cooking, home-field advantage has been big this postseason. Home teams are 24-9. The Astros, Yankees and Dodgers are the biggest part of that. They’re a combined 17-1 at home this postseason. The Astros have set the pace with a 1.17 ERA in six games at Minute Maid Park, where they’ll return on Friday.

On Friday, the Astros will start Lance McCullers in Game 3 of the World Series. McCullers, who throws his curveball more often than any other starting pitcher, threw 24 in a row to close out Game 7 of the ALCS against the Yankees. Eleven of his 12 outs came via the curveball. McCullers got 220 outs with his curveball during the regular season. Only Corey Kluber had more (230) and he had the benefit of seven more starts than McCullers.

On the subject of bullpens, the vaunted Dodgers pen put together an incredible run that ended in Game 2. When the Astros scored in the eighth inning, they ended a streak of 28 straight scoreless innings by the Dodgers bullpen.

That’s the longest streak in a single postseason in major league history. Kenley Jansen had been outstanding for the Dodgers in closing, not just in this postseason, but in past postseasons as well. His streak of 12 straight save chances converted ended when he allowed Marwin Gonzalez’s game-tying home run.

Both starters and relievers have racked up the strikeouts. Pitchers are striking out 9.5 batters per nine innings this postseason. This will likely be the first postseason in which pitchers struck out more than a batter per inning.

But hitters have shown they can survive strikeouts. Take George Springer as one example. He struck out four times in Game 1 of the World Series, than hit the game-winning home run in Game 2. The home run not only gave the Astros the win, but it was also the eighth of the game, setting a World Series record.

And the reliance on home runs might be the most amazing thing of all. Fifty-one percent of all runs this postseason have been scored on homers. That's up nine percentage points from the regular season.

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