Justin Verlander has traditionally struggled at Progressive Field? That’s fake news, at least during his Astros’ tenure, anyway.
Verlander—who entered Tuesday night’s contest with a 5.56 career ERA in Cleveland’s home ballpark, where he had only previously appeared while donning a Detroit Tigers cap—completely engulfed the Indians, twirling seven shutout innings and striking out 13 in a 2-0 shutdown victory for the Houston Astros.
The Indians have been torrid of late, reeling off a 34-14 stretch that dates to the beginning of June—the best mark in baseball during that span. After previously facing a double-digit deficit in the standings, Cleveland entered the night trailing the Minnesota Twins by only two games in the AL Central and atop the AL Wild Card race, with starting pitching reinforcements on the way in former Cy Young winner Corey Kluber and the talented Danny Salazar (who will start the finale of this series).