It looks like there’s hope for Astros starting pitching after all. And his name is —who else — Justin Verlander.
For the first time since arriving back in Houston, Justin Verlander truly seemed like the Verlander of old. He completed six shutout innings, allowing five hits and one walk with nine strikeouts. He threw 67 strikes out of 97 pitches. It was the first quality start thrown by an Astros starter not named Verlander or France since the Framber Valdez no-hitter on August 2nd.
Verlander got more than enough offensive support, and the offense got plenty of support from the Red Sox defense.