Justin Verlander (From MLB video)
Justin Verlander (From MLB video)
This has the makings of a storybook ending for ace ex-Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros, the team that adopted him late in the season.
Verlander takes the mound Wednesday night in Game 6 against Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. Houston leads the series 3-2. A win tonight would clinch the World Series.
"These are the moments that you want to be a part of as a baseball player," Verlander is quoted as saying in the Los Angeles Times. "It's everything you could ask for. It's either win it to stay alive or win it to win it all. Either way, it's going to be pretty intense."
Verlander has simply been amazing since he came to the team in September, as Kevin Baxter of the LA Times wrties:
Verlander is not only unbeaten during the postseason, he’s 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA since joining Houston from Detroit in a late-season trade. He is 2-0 in three career starts against the Dodgers.
Verlander has won an American League Cy Young Award and most-valuable-player award winner, but is 0-3 in four World Series starts with the Astros and Tigers.
He pitched six innings in Game 2 against the Dodgers but did not get a decision in a game the Astros won in extra innings. Verlander gave up two hits in that game, a home run by Joc Pederson and a two-run homer by Corey Seager.
