Verlander out to save Astros
HOUSTON — Justin Verlander agreed to that last-minute trade to the Houston Astros with hopes of another World Series, and has since won all eight games he has pitched. Eight is not enough. The Astros have to win Verlander’s ninth game or their season will end short of that goal.
“Obviously, I know this is one of the main reasons I was brought here,” Verlander said yesterday. “This is why I’m here.”
Six days after the big right-hander threw a complete game against the Yankees to put Houston up 2-0 in the best-of-seven AL Championship Series, the teams will be back in Minute Maid Park for Game 6 tonight with the Astros facing an elimination game after New York swept three games in the Bronx.
“Well, there’s immediate belief when you have a Justin Verlander go,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “His presence will immediately make everybody sit up straight, stand up a little bit more, have a little bit more energy because of the presence that he brings.”
The Astros certainly need the boost.
Aaron Judge and all those baby bombers from New York, who had a pair of 2-1 losses in Houston and struck out 13 times against Verlander, have a lot more energy and confidence after outscoring the Astros 19-5 and outhitting them 2512 in three home games.
“Look at a number of other players that have been through playoffs, and they’ve had their struggles, and all of a sudden they can get hot,” Yanks manager Joe Girardi said. “And I think everything is magnified when you’re in the playoffs, and two games seem like forever. If you struggle two games in the season people don’t say much.”
The Yankees are one win away from their first AL pennant since 2009 and record 41st overall.
Houston has to win Verlander’s start and then another game for its first AL pennant. The Astros were still in the National League for their only World Series appearance 12 years ago.
Verlander in Game 2 threw 124 pitches, exactly twice as many as Luis Severino did for the Yankees. That is also the starting matchup for Game 6.
Verlander made two World Series starts as a rookie with Detroit in 2006, and made it again in 2012 with the Tigers, who completed a trade Aug. 31 to send him to Houston only minutes before the deadline for him to be eligible to pitch in this postseason.
So what did the 34-yearold Verlander do in between starts after the 124 pitches last Saturday?
“I kind of stepped on the gas. I feel as good now as I’ve felt all year,” Verlander said. “This is what we work so hard for. My workout regimen in the offseason, my throwing regimen, my shoulder regimen in season, all that stuff, this is when it pays off the most. I came out of that start better than almost any I have all year.”
As for the Yankees, after winning the AL wild card game, then overcoming an 0-2 deficit against Cleveland in the Division Series, they are suddenly leading a series.
“Yeah, it does feel different,” Girardi said. “We’ve been on ‘we have to win today,’ but I still think the attitude will be the same, win one game.”