Justin Verlander took the mound Thursday and pitched six shutout innings of just two hits and five strikeouts to lead the Houston Astros to a win over the Cleveland Guardians.
With 38 years of age and 17 seasons in the Major Leagues, this type of performance is one more example of the quality that the veteran ace of the Astros rotation still possesses, who is until today the favorite to win the Cy Young award. , which distinguishes the best pitcher of the season for the American League.
With the dominant work of him, Verlander extended his lead in wins in the Major Leagues, registering his 15th win of the season.
His unfailing performance led him to lower his earned run percentage to 1.73, ranking him the best all-around in Major League Baseball.
Verlander has been effective and durable in his pitching work, racking up the fourth-highest number of innings pitched in the American League, with 130, just two behind the leader in this department, Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah, who has completed 132 episodes.
The star of the Houston team, owner of a powerful fastball that travels beyond 95 miles per hour, has struck out 127 players so far in the contest, a tool that has allowed him to limit the damage that his rivals could do .
With only three losses on his record, Verlander has been a true trump card for the Astros, who have gotten out the front door 16 of the 20 times Verlander has taken the mound.
That winning record of the Astros shows the quality of the work that Justin has done, who has accumulated 16 presentations in which he has thrown six or more innings and has allowed three runs or less, a line where he is only surpassed in the AL by Manoah ( 17) and by his teammate, Dominican southpaw Framber Valdez (18).
Verlander currently has a string of seven straight games in which he has allowed one run or fewer (four one-runs and three scoreless) and in each one he has completed at least six innings.
At his pace so far, Verlander is on track for his fourth career win lead (19-2008, 24-2011 and 21-2020), as well as his second in earned run percentage ( 2.40-2011).
Verlander is dominating and winning games for his team, factors that are vital on the way to what would be the third Cy Young Award (2011 and 2019) of his career.