Justin Verlander, clearly, is no regular 39 year-old. While most his age have long since either retired or gone downhill in terms of their pitching performance, the Houston Astros ace has only aged like a fine wine. Like Nolan Ryan did decades ago, Verlander is dominating at an advanced age, with his latest spectacular outing on Thursday night helping his team win 6-0 in Cleveland against the Guardians. The hosts could barely muster anything of substance off Verlander, as he pitched six innings of two-hit ball before handing it over to a very good bullpen. It was his 15th win of the season, too, as he leads the Majors impressively.
In pitching those six frames, Verlander also triggered a $25 million clause for next season as well, so it was definitely a fine day for him. Offensively, Chas McCormick and Martin Maldonado each had three RBI’s and a homer apiece. Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Angels found a new and dubious way to lose. They hit seven home runs, all solo shots, but somehow managed to figure out a way to lose, falling 8-7 to the A’s at home in a remarkable contest. Shohei Ohtani hit two of those dingers, and the team tied the seven solo shot mark for the league’s all-time record, but they still found a defeat awaiting them in what has been a very tough season since the first month or so. The A’s got four RBI’s from Ramon Laureano as they creep ever closer to the Halos in the standings.
