Verlander’s wife provides big save

the first-place Astros, 2014 probably seems like a long time ago to Verlander. But Tigers fans may remember that many had written off Verlander after he struggled to a 4.54 ERA with the Detroit in 2014, two years after he met Upton.

As the article points out, Upton had lived much of her adult life in the public eye as a model and was no stranger to being publicly criticized, especially after her first Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover in 2012 was met with “she’s too fat” remarks, among others. She helped him realize he needed help, physically and emotionally, Verlander said in the report.

“She obviously had dealt with more than me in her life,” he said. “I mean, being a woman? Being in that industry? Being that famous? That was a level I hadn’t dealt with.”

Verlander says he started seeing a physical therapist who helped him rehabilitate his body shortly after and by 2016 he was back to being one of the best pitchers.

On Thursday night, Verlander pitched at home against Seattle, getting ejected after two innings during which he allowed seven hits and six runs, including three homers.

In his previous outing, he struck out 14 Dodgers in a 2-1 victory in Los Angeles in a World Series rematch.

In no way was Friday’s game anywhere near a World Series environment, but for a regular-season game in August, the righthander was impressed.

“This is not your average ballgame midweek, this is a big atmosphere, great ballclub with World Series aspirations and we played them in the World Series last year,” said Verlander, who won his first career regular-season start at Dodger Stadium while giving up one run on four hits over 72⁄3 innings.