The Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander was totally fine leaving with a no-hitter intact after six innings against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.
“I like to go deep in games in the regular season, but I’d rather do it in the post-season or at least be fresh and strong for that,” he said.
Verlander posted his MLB-leading 16th win as the Astros beat Minnesota in Carlos Correa’s return to Houston.
Photo: Troy Taormina-USA Today
Correa, making his first visit to Houston after leaving the Astros to join the Twins this off-season, received a huge ovation when honored during a pre-game ceremony where he was presented with his American League Championship ring.
Verlander (16-3) allowed just one runner to reach base — Nick Gordon struck out in the second inning on a wild pitch to get aboard. Verlander fanned 10 and lowered his MLB-best earned run average to 1.87 in his spectacular return after missing almost two seasons after Tommy John surgery.
Manager Dusty Baker said Verlander was on a pitch limit of 90 as the Astros transition from a six to five-man rotation, but he still asked Verlander if he wanted to keep going as he had not allowed a hit.
“After six innings at ... 91 pitches, you know it’s not going to be one of those nights,” Verlander said. “Maybe 15 years ago, 10 years ago when I loved throwing 130-something, but not now and specifically not after Tommy John in my first season back.”
The 39-year-old Verlander was pulled after 91 pitches. He is the only active player to have thrown three no-hitters — in May, he lost a no-hit try against the Twins in the eighth inning at Target Field.
Ryne Stanek relieved to begin the seventh and Correa led off with Minnesota’s first hit.
“I didn’t want to get no-hit on the first game back, so I had to drop that one in there,” Correa said.
Alex Bregman’s homer helped the American League West-leading Astros build a 4-0 lead. The Twins scored twice in the ninth and had the bases loaded before Bryan Abreu struck out Jake Cave to end it.
The Twins lost their fourth straight game in a night of struggles at the plate that came after they placed All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton on the injured list with a hip strain. Until their late rally, the most noise Minnesota made came when manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected during an animated argument.
Things got testy in the fifth when Twins starter Aaron Sanchez (0-1) plunked Jose Altuve on the left thigh. There was some jawing between Altuve and Sanchez and benches cleared, but there was no pushing or shoving.
Order was soon restored, but after Yuli Gurriel walked on four pitches, Baldelli came out of the dugout yelling at the umpires. He was soon ejected by first base umpire Todd Tichenor, but that did not stop him from screaming and gesturing wildly for a few more minutes before leaving the field.
Baldelli said he was upset as he believes he was charged with a visit to the mound when he went to try to calm down Sanchez and was not properly informed of it.
“At the bare minimum I think there’s probably it’s necessary for someone to come over and let us know that a visit was given,” he said. “So that’s it. I disagreed and I disagreed on multiple levels.”
Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on Tuesday struck out 11 in five shutout innings to match a franchise record during his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. “Pretty sick performance,” teammate Romy Gonzalez said. “It was fun to watch.” The only other Red Sox starter to rack up 11 strikeouts in his first career game was Don Aase versus the Milwaukee Brewers on July 26, 1977. “It was amazing, just to go out there and have that first opportunity,” Early said after getting the win in a 6-0 victory. “A long day of travel yesterday and just getting to the field, seeing
Mikel Merino on Sunday scored a hat-trick as a majestic Spain thumped Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying, while a brilliant Florian Wirtz free-kick helped Germany beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to get their bid up and running. European champions Spain were in unstoppable form in the central Turkish city of Konya, claiming their second biggest-ever away win in World Cup qualifying as Arsenal midfielder Merino scored his first professional hat-trick. Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring inside six minutes and later completed the scoring, with Ferran Torres netting the visitors’ other goal. The quality of Merino’s strikes was remarkable, with his
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
RSS