SOLOMON: ANOTHER L FOR VERLANDER.
Astros ace Verlander has made seven career starts in the World Series — and he is 0-6
Justin Verlander is a man of routine.
Not to the level of obsessivecompulsive disorder, but certainly, as he prepares to pitch, there is a right time and a Verlander time.
Maybe as it gets closer to Halloween, he should consider changing it up a tad.
Tuesday was supposed to be his day.
A potential World Seriesclinching start of Game 6 against the Nationals at Minute Maid Park wouldn’t be Verlander’s swan song – the 36-year-old says he plans to pitch until he is 45 – but it could have been a major jewel in a nearly-full treasure chest of baseball accomplishments.
Instead, it was a frustrating outing that, combined with his teammates’ inability to string many hits together against Stephen Strasburg, resulted in a 7-2 loss.
It was the first time a Houston crowd had an opportunity to see the Astros clinch a World Series, but 43,384 on hand left disappointed. The Astros’ 11th win of the postseason must now come in Game 7 Wednesday night, at a stadium where the Nationals have won every game.
For the team with the best home record in baseball, a franchise-record 61 wins this season, to lose three straight at Minute Maid Park in one series is shocking
The Astros scored six runs in the three first innings of those games. They have scored just three runs in those other 24 innings.
With that in mind, they needed Verlander to deliver as they know he can.
The Astros were so confident that Verlander would get it done, Alex Bregman, Vice-President in charge of the team’s Swagger Department, posted a message on social media screaming that Tuesday was “JV 31 Day!”
Maybe, if JV stood for just Verlander.
It was much more AR Day. As in Anthony Rendon, the Houston native and former Rice infielder, who pounded his hometown team by going 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs Tuesday.
Or SS Day. As in Strasburg, who pitched a brilliant 8 1⁄3 innings and allowed only two firstinning runs while scattering five hits.
That was the type of outing Verlander is known for. The kind he has all the time during the regular season and even in the playoffs. Just not in the World
Series
Verlander should have no shame if the Astros win Game 7, because they wouldn’t be here without him.
As off as he was, he didn’t completely blow up Tuesday.
Three runs through five innings isn’t a horrible start. But the Astros expect Verlander to be better than that. Because he always is. Until late October.
Verlander has been to the World Series four times, and has yet to earn a victory and has taken six losses in his seven starts. The only game his teams managed to win was the Astros’ come-from-behind extra inning Game 2 win over the Dodgers in 2017.
His World Series 5.73 ERA is more than three runs higher than his ERA with the Astros.
With nine of the 14 runs Verlander had surrendered during the playoffs coming in the first inning, getting through the top half of the inning with a zero on the board wasn’t likely.
He lived down to that, giving up a score on a pair of singles wrapped around a sacrifice bunt.
Verlander labored through the first four innings, it took him 75 pitches to get those 12 outs, then was punished in the fifth with a pair of long home runs.
“I thought he ran out of gas at the end,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said.
He didn’t have total command of his pitches. He almost had to give up on his curveball and his slider was ineffective.
Adam Eaton turned on one and parked it in the right field seats to tie the ballgame.
Not to be outdone in any way, young stud Juan Soto got hold of a fastball and violently launched into the upper deck in right field.
And to give the Astros a taste of the own hot dog mustard, Soto trotted to first base holding his bat, just as Bregman had done on his home run in the first.
One would think the Astros would have figured out a way to get the best of Verlander at this time of year, but they are as surprised as anyone that he wasn’t quite himself.
“I've heard a couple of our guys say this when Justin is pitching, we come to the ballpark with an absolute expectation to win,” Hinch said before Game 6.
Absolute expectation. Not so shocking result.