The Houston Astros got a gem from their old ace Justin Verlander on Monday when they needed it most, making a statement win against their division rival Seattle Mariners.
The Houston Astros traveled to face the Seattle Mariners on Monday with the possibility that they could miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Coming into the game, the Astros had been struggling, losing five of their last six at home.
Facing the Mariners, who have had Houston's number to the tune of eight wins out of 10 games, there was a chance the season could be over.
But Justin Verlander didn't let that happen.
The veteran ace stepped up when the franchise needed him most, delivering a vintage performance that reminded everyone of just how legendary the 40-year-old truly is.
Slugger Yordan Alvarez knew how important that performance was, telling Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, "Incredible. That’s obviously what this team needed. He knew that, and going out there and putting the team in that type of position was great."
Verlander was incredible.
He threw eight shutout innings, allowing two hits before heading back out for the ninth inning and allowing a leadoff double that eventually scored to ruin his scoreless outing.
His final stat line read eight innings pitched, three hits allowed, one earned run and eight strikeouts.
It was a vintage performance that the Astros needed from their old ace.
"Here we are with our destiny still in our hands, ultimately that’s where you want to be," Verlander said, "When it’s time to turn it on, we know how to play that type of baseball, and we do it really well. No matter what, if we get there, I love these guys and I love our chances, and we’ll see what happens."
This result helped their chances.
Coming into Monday, Houston was up only a half game on Seattle and had a 61.0% chance to make the playoffs.
Now, they have a 75.4% chance according to FanGraphs.
It'll be up to the rest of the pitching staff to ensure they can build off of this performance for the rest of the regular season.