Verlander shines in pitching duel with Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas — Justin Verlander certainly noticed that Astros batters were being retired one after another. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner was pretty impressive himself in only his fourth start since Tommy John surgery.

Kyle Tucker hit a tiebreaking pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning, providing the margin of victory for Verlander, and Houston beat Texas 3-2 on Thursday after Rangers left-hander Martin Perez took a perfect game into the seventh.

“They’re interesting when you’re in the middle of them. I mean, obviously always root for runs, but then all of a sudden you realize, three or four or five innings, I’m like, you know, he’s got it,” Verlander said. “So kind of knew we’d be in the middle of a pitching duel there. … It was fun to come out on the right side of it.”

Tucker’s two-run blast came off Matt Bush (0-1), the first reliever for Texas after Perez retired the first 18 batters before giving up his only run and two hits in the seventh. Perez struck out four without a walk, with 55 of 76 pitches being strikes.

Verlander (2-1) struck out eight, also allowing one run over seven innings. The 39-year-old right-hander, who retired 18 of the first 19 Texas batters, threw 64 of 91 pitches for strikes and didn’t have a walk while lowering his season ERA to 1.73.

“He was dealing, and he had been matched by their pitcher, too. He was dealing, both of them,” Astros Manager Dusty Baker said, adding that Verlander’s curveball and slider were working well with his always-good fastball. “That was a classic pitcher’s duel. If you took a pitch, it was a strike, and if you swung at it, it wasn’t a good pitch to hit.”

Blake Taylor pitched a perfect eighth for the Astros. Rafael Montero then worked the ninth with usual closer Ryan Pressly still on the injured list and got his first save despite Corey Seager’s one-out home run to straightaway center.

ANGELS 4, GUARDIANS 1 Taylor Ward drove in two runs, Brandon Marsh had three hits and an RBI, and Los Angeles completed a fourgame sweep of Cleveland, which has lost seven in a row. BLUE JAYS 1, RED SOX 0 Alek Manoah (4-0) struck out seven and pitched three-hit ball over seven innings, and Toronto beat Boston.

RAYS 2, MARINERS 1 Brett Phillips bounced a tiebreaking single off pitcher Chris Flexen’s leg in the seventh inning and Tampa Bay beat Seattle.

ROYALS 5, WHITE SOX 2 (10) Rookie Kyle Isbel hit a two-run single in Kansas City’s three-run 10th, and the Royals beat Chicago.

TWINS 7, TIGERS 1 Carlos Correa broke out of a slump with three hits and three RBI and Minnesota completed a three-game sweep of Detroit.

YANKEES 10, ORIOLES 5 Aaron Judge hit a long three-run home run moments after Baltimore committed its fifth error of the game, and surging New York beat the sloppy Orioles.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BRAVES 5, CUBS 1 Ronald Acuna Jr. went 1 for 5 with two stolen bases in his return to the Braves lineup and Kyle Wright (3-0) turned in another stellar performance, giving Atlanta its first series win of the season with a victory over Chicago. BREWERS 3, PIRATES 2 Andrew McCutchen hit a go-ahead two-run single in the top of the ninth inning to rally Milwaukee past Pittsburgh to complete a three-game sweep. CARDINALS 8, DIAMONDBACKS 3 Paul Goldschmidt went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI and Dakota Hudson (2-1) allowed one hit in six innings as St. Louis defeated Arizona.

MARLINS 3, NATIONALS 2 Trevor Rogers (1-3) provided his longest outing of the season by allowing one run in six innings, and Miami stretched its winning streak to five games and completed a sweep of Washington.

PADRES 7, REDS 5 Ha-Seong Kim hit a tiebreaking, three-run double in the sixth inning and San Diego beat Cincinnati to complete a season sweep in the series.

PHILLIES 7, ROCKIES 1 Zack Wheeler (13) tossed one-hit ball over six shutout innings and Alec Bohm homered to help Philadelphia complete a four-game sweep of Colorado.