Justin Verlander is already having one of the best seasons of his sure-fire, slam-dunk first-ballot Hall-of-Fame career. On Saturday, he added to his already major league leading victory total with his 12th against only three losses.
Verlander dropped his ERA to 1.89 with six scoreless innings of work. He’s now second in the American League to Tampa Bay Ray Shane McClanahan’s 1.71. Verlander put 73-of-106 pitches over the plate and issued zero walks. Although he did uncork one wild pitch, he also got 10 Athletics to strike out.
The A’s actually outhit Houston seven hits to six, but they couldn’t break through against Verlander or the three relievers that followed him with a scoreless inning each.