Astros continue surge as Verlander shuts out Angels
The Houston Astros continued their fine MLB form thanks to pitcher Justin Verlander.
Justin Verlander extended his winning record with the Houston Astros, leading his team to a 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels in MLB on Friday.
After tossing seven shut-out innings against the Angels, Verlander moved to 4-0 since moving to Houston before the end of the August 31 waiver trade deadline.
Verlander, a six-time All-Star and former American League (AL) Cy Young award winner (2011), has allowed just two runs in 28 innings with the Astros. He also has 32 strikeouts.
As a team, the Astros have now won seven of their last eight games.
MVP candidate Jose Altuve has led the Astros' young, hungry lineup with aplomb all year. Houston just needed another strong-armed pitcher it could rely on in the postseason – enter Verlander.
It appears the Astros will head into the postseason with an in-form Verlander followed by Dallas Keuchel, who is just two years removed from his own AL Cy Young award.
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
St Louis Cardinals 4-3 Pittsburgh Pirates
Tampa Bay Rays 8-3 Baltimore Orioles
New York Yankees 1-8 Toronto Blue Jays
Boston Red Sox 5-4 Cincinnati Reds
Minnesota Twins 7-3 Detroit Tigers
Washington Nationals 6-7 New York Mets
Chicago Cubs 5-4 Milwaukee Brewers
Philadelphia Phillies 2-7 Atlanta Braves
Kansas City Royals 6-7 Chicago White Sox
Los Angeles Angels 0-3 Houston Astros
Texas Rangers 1-4 Oakland Athletics
Cleveland Indians 1-3 Seattle Mariners
Colorado Rockies 4-1 San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants 2-4 Los Angeles Dodgers
Miami Marlins 11-13 Arizona Diamondbacks
DEVERS DELIGHTS
Rafael Devers helped the Red Sox (89-64) extend their lead to four games over the Yankees in the AL East by collecting two hits – his ninth home run included – and three RBIs in a 5-4 win over the Reds. The rookie third baseman is now hitting .298 this season.
JACKSON STRUGGLES FOR NATIONALS
Nationals starter Edwin Jackson was lit up for six earned runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings in a 7-6 loss to the Mets. Jackson, who walked two and allowed two home runs, likely will not see any starts during the postseason.
BELLINGER BREAKS RECORD, BLUE JAYS TRICK YANKEES
The Dodgers' Cody Bellinger broke the National League (NL) rookie home run record with his 39th homer of the season.
Where's the ball, Todd? Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier got caught not paying attention on second base in an 8-1 loss to the Blue Jays.
CUBS AT BREWERS
The Cubs (86-67) toppled Milwaukee (81-73) in the 10th inning for the second straight day Friday, helping Chicago move 5.5 games ahead of their NL Central division rivals. The Cubs will send Kyle Hendricks (7-5, 3.22 ERA) to the mound Saturday to help continue the possibility of handing the Brewers a sweep this weekend. The Brewers swept the Cubs in Chicago just two weeks ago.