Justin Verlander flirts with history and the Astros keep rolling

Thanks to eight dominant innings from their ace Justin Verlander, the Astros guarantee at least a split of this four-game series.

The roof may have been closed Tuesday night for a crowd of over 31,000, and the air conditioning may have been blowing, but that didn’t stop Justin Verlander from being red-hot on the mound. Astros fans gathered for the second game of a four-game set and were certainly not disappointed at the result.

Verlander threw eight innings of one-run ball, only giving up one hit, a home run to Jose Abreu in the 7th inning. Up until that homer, Verlander flirted with a no-no for six and one-third innings. Abreu got a hold of a pitch down in the zone and drove it to straight-away center for his eleventh bomb of the year.

Verlander got the next five outs and his night was finished at 101 pitches. Another dominant start from J. V. whose ERA now sits at 2.24. Hector Rondon came in for the 9th, struck out two, walked one, and closed out yet another Astros win.

On the offensive side of things, the Astros got things rolling in the fourth with a Yuli Gurriel opposite field home run, his fourth of the year. The bottom of the 5th got a little dicey for White Sox pitching. The inning started with a walk to Tony Kemp, followed by a walk to Jake Marisnick, and a third straight walk to Josh Reddick.

The bases were loaded, and White Sox pitcher Aaron Bummer threw a wild pitch, scoring Tony Kemp, and both runners moved up a base. It was two to nothing. Alex Bregman then walked to load the bases for the second time in the inning. Michael Brantley then doubled to left field scoring two and making it a four-nothing game. Carlos Correa then singled to left field as well, making it a five nothing game, and that was all that was needed.

The final score Tuesday was 5-1, and the Astros add another to the win column, maintaining their position as the best team in baseball at 33-16. The series continues Wednesday night as Gerrit Cole faces off against Ivan Nova. The Astros look for another series win, and a third consecutive victory.