Verlander pitches 3rd career no-hitter
Strikes out 14, ties for lead in wins with 17
Justin Verlander pitched his third career no-hitter, punctuating a dominant season with an overpowering performance to lead the Houston Astros past the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Sunday.
Verlander struck out 14 and allowed just one runner, walking Cavan Biggio with one out in the first inning.
The 36-year-old Verlander joined Nolan Ryan (seven), Sandy Koufax (four) and Bob Feller, Cy Young and Larry Corcoran (three) in rarefied air on the no-hitter list.
This was the fourth no-hitter in the majors this year. The last one was by the Astros, too, a combined effort from Aaron Sanchez, Will Harris, Joe Biagini and Chris Devenski against Seattle on Aug. 3.
Oakland’s Mike Fiers and a tandem effort by Taylor Cole and Felix Pena of the Angels accounted for this year’s other gems.
Verlander (17-5) is tied for the big league lead in wins. He tops the majors in strikeouts (257) and innings (193) and leads the AL with a 2.56 ERA. twins 8, tigers 3: Jake Cave and nelson Cruz each drove in two runs for minnesota. A day after connecting six times to set a single-season major league record with 268 home runs, the twins got 12 hits — a double by Luis Arraez was their only extra-base hit. rays 8, indians 2: Cleveland pitcher Carlos Carrasco made his return to the mound from leukemia. normally a starter, he entered in the seventh inning for his first major league appearance since being diagnosed with a treatable form of leukemia in June. He worked one inning and gave up two hits, including travis d’arnaud’s run-scoring single. nationals 9, marlins 3: ryan Zimmerman, who missed 36 games due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot, celebrated his return with one of Washington’s four home runs. royals 6, orioles 4: Adalberto mondesi matched a career high with four hits and stole three bases for Kansas City. brewers 4, Cubs 0: Christian Yelich hit a three-run homer off Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning. mariners 11, rangers 3: Kyle Seager, tom murphy and daniel Vogelbach hit home runs for Seattle.
Pirates 6, rockies 2: Steven Brault hit his first major league homer and pitched effectively into the seventh inning to lead Pittsburgh over Colorado. Padres 8, giants 4: ty france homered twice, Greg Garcia hit a leadoff drive and San diego beat San francisco. dodgers 4, diamondbacks 3 (11): Cody Bellinger hit a tying homer in the ninth inning, pinch-hitter Joc Pederson went deep in the 11th and Los Angeles rallied past Arizona. braves 5, White sox 3: freddie freeman homered twice and drove in five runs, helping Atlanta win its fourth straight.
Cardinals 4-3, reds 3-5: nick Senzel and Phillip ervin hit solo home runs in the nightcap and the reds snapped a four-game skid to salvage the second game of the doubleheader. in the opener, Harrison Bader’s gameending single lifted the Cardinals to the win.