Justin Verlander throws a no-hitter

Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 2 hits from the 2-0 win

Chris Campise
Sep 1, 2019, 2:37 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

With Toronto taking the middle game on Saturday, Houston looked to get back in the win column and take the series win with a victory on Sunday. Here is a recap of the series finale against the Blue Jays which started the final month of the regular season:

Final Score: Astros 2, Blue Jays 0.

Record: 89-49, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Justin Verlander (17-5, 2.56 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Ken Giles (2-3, 2.05 ERA).

1) Verlander throws third career no-hitter

While the Blue Jays pieced together a quality bullpen day which kept the Astros' offense in check, it was Justin Verlander shutting down Toronto on the other side. Verlander was effective and efficient, working his way to another double-digit strikeout start after seven innings while throwing 93 pitches.

He added three more in the bottom of the eighth, striking out the side in order, keeping the Blue Jays without a hit and sending the scoreless game to the ninth. After his offense scored two runs in the top of the ninth, Verlander returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth to finish things off.

He would do so, recording another 1-2-3 inning and completing his third career no-hitter. Verlander's final line: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 14 K, 0 HR.

2) Toro comes through in the ninth

Meanwhile, Houston's offense was not able to string together enough offense to score any runs through the first eight innings. With their pitcher at thirteen strikeouts and no hits through eight, Houston was desperate to back Verlander up with a run to try and complete a historic day.

Alex Bregman led the top of the ninth off with a double and would move to second on a one-out fly out, then scored on a two-run home run by Abraham Toro off of former-Astros Ken Giles to score the first two runs of the game and finally give Verlander some run support. Those two runs were the difference, lifting Houston over Toronto to take the series win.

Up Next: The Astros will take a short trip to Milwaukee for a quick two-game series starting Monday with a Labor Day matchup with the Brewers at 3:00 PM. The Astros will have Gerrit Cole (15-5, 2.85 ERA) on the mound going against Adrian Houser (6-5, 3.52 ERA) for the Brewers.

The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.

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Houston gets the lopsided win

Valdez, Astros dominate the Angels in 10-0 rout in Anaheim

Framber Valdez was dominant against the Angels on Monday night. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

With a series win at home over the weekend, the Astros started their final regular-season road trip on Monday, squaring off against the Angels in Anaheim. They held the momentum firmly in their favor all night, dominating both sides of the game to start the series with a victory.

Final Score: Astros 10, Angels 0

Astros' Record: 89-61, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Framber Valdez (11-5)

Losing Pitcher: Jaime Barria (2-4)

Siri leads off with a bang

With Jose Altuve being given the night off, Houston gave Jose Siri a shot at the leadoff spot, and he delivered to start the opener in Anaheim. He launched a missile to left field, 426 feet, to put the Astros in front 1-0 before the Angels could record an out. Later that same inning, they strung together three singles, the third being an RBI by Carlos Correa to double the lead.

Valdez goes seven shutout innings

That gave Framber Valdez a lead to work with as he stepped on the rubber in the bottom of the inning, and he didn't give it up as he would post a dominant start. He started with a 1-2-3 first, worked around a couple of singles in the second, then used a double play to face the minimum in the third.

He retired Los Angeles in order again in the fourth, stranded a two-out single in the fifth and a single and a walk in the sixth. He had his worst inning of the night in the seventh, giving up a leadoff single then loading the bases on back-to-back two-out walks. He'd escape the jam, though, keeping the shutout alive and finalizing his impressive line: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 98 P.

Astros take the opener in lopsided fashion

Houston tacked on an insurance run in the top of the eighth, getting a one-out double by Correa to set up an RBI single by Marwin Gonzalez, pushing the lead to 3-0. Things escalated from there, as another single put two on base for Martin Maldonado, who blew the game open with a three-run homer to make it a six-run lead.

Brooks Raley took over for Valdez in the bottom of the inning, and with a 1-2-3 inning, made it his eighth appearance in a row without allowing a run. The Astros didn't let up in the top of the ninth, getting two hits and a walk to load the bases before a grand slam by Gonzalez made it 10-0 and gave him 5 RBI in a two-inning span. Seth Martinez, called up by the Astros earlier in the day, made his big-league debut in the bottom of the ninth and closed out the lopsided win to put Houston's magic number at 6.

Up Next: The second of this four-game set will be another 8:38 PM Central start on Tuesday. Jose Urquidy (7-3, 3.38 ERA) will take the mound for the Astros, going opposite Packy Naughton (0-2, 4.32 ERA) for the Angels.

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