The 5 best Astros starts from April

(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
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Houston Astros, Justin Verlander
Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Justin Verlander – Game Score: 84 | IP: 8.0| H: 3 | R: 0 | K: 8 | BB: 0

After being tagged with a tough loss despite pitching well in his initial return from TJ surgery, start No. 2 on April 16 of the Verlander comeback tour was electric and he completely shut down the Mariners.

Adam Frazier led off with a single for Seattle in the bottom of the first and Verlander then retired the next nine Mariners in a row, until Ty France singled to lead off the fourth.  Verlander then retired the next eight batters until France again singled with two outs in the sixth.

The only other batter to reach base was on a hit by pitch and he was immediately erased on a double play.

How dominant was Verlander? His 3.6 pitches per out is the most efficient of the season to date for Astros starters, no Mariner got past first base and to date it’s highest game score in the American League and third highest MLB game score of the season.

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