 blanked the Yankees until Greg Bird hit a leadoff home run in the seventh.As he left, Verlander took off his cap and waved it toward a solid contingent of Astros fans wearing bright orange behind the dugout.Verlander has done this before against the Yankees, especially lately. He was the MVP of the AL Championship Series last October, going 2-0 and limiting New York to one run in 16 innings while striking out 21.Earlier this month, Verlander pitched eight shutout innings against the Yankees and fanned 14. This time, Verlander allowed five hits in 6 2/3 innings, fanning five without a walk.In 12 starts this year, the big righty has permitted only 10 earned runs.Yet for all the heat Verlander brought to the plate, the best toss he made might've been a throw in the opposite direction. The Astros led 3-0 when the Yankees put runners at first and second with two outs in the second.With Miguel Andujar at the plate, Verlander pivoted and picked rookie Gleyber Torres off second base to escape.Davis hit his first homer of the season, connecting in the second off Domingo German (0-3). Altuve, whose team-record run of 10 straight hits ended Sunday, added his fourth in the eighth.Torres has been swinging a sizzling bat, and manager Aaron Boone moved him up to fifth, his highest spot in the lineup yet. The 21-year-old newcomer had an adventuresome afternoon.Torres singled off Verlander, but got picked off. He nonchalanted a throw from second base, and the errant toss set up Evan Gattis' RBI single in the fourth - Torres flung his glove in the dugout when the inning was over. Torres also made two acrobatic catches ranging into shallow center field.TRAINER'S ROOMAstros: OF Derek Fisher, out with what the team says is ''gastrointestinal discomfort,'' started a rehab assignment at Triple-A Fresno.Yankees: Slugger Giancarlo Stanton didn't start, a day after striking out in all four at-bats against the Angels, dropping his batting average to .246. Boone said it was merely a day off, just ''a logical thing.'' Stanton led the majors with 59 homers last year with Miami - he has 11 homers this season. Boone said he wasn't worried about Stanton, ''but there's always the adjustment thing.'' UP NEXTAstros: RHP Charlie Morton (7-0, 2.04 ERA) struck out 10 in a victory over the Yankees on April 30. He started and beat New York in Game 7 of the ALCS last October, pitching five shutout innings.Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia (2-1, 3.55) started and took the loss vs. Houston in Game 7 of the ALCS last October, allowing one run in 3 1/3 innings.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Yankees face Verlander, Astros 1h ago• 4 min read NEW YORK -- The last time the New York Yankees hosted the Houston Astros, they exited Yankee Stadium one win from advancing to their first World Series since 2009.It never materialized, and Justin Verlander was a significant reason why the Yankees fell short of competing for a championship.The Yankees get another crack at Verlander on Monday afternoon in the opener of a three-game series with the defending World Series champions.After attempting to generate offense against Verlander, the Yankees will face unbeaten Charlie Morton and nemesis Dallas Keuchel, whom they beat in Game 5."I look at them as a great team and obviously what they're doing from a starting pitching standpoint you can't help but take notice," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "We know these next few days we're going to face some great pitching, so we're going to have to be at our best offensively to just try and generate some offense against them."So any time you're up against a team like that that's throwing the ball the way they are, it's a little bit of a barometer. We look forward to that challenge. We look forward to playing in those type of games and I look forward to seeing our guys go out there and hopefully do what we've done most of the year, and that's make it very tough on opposing starters." The Yankees were one win from reaching the World Series after taking Game 5 5-0, but then ran into Verlander for the second time in the American League Championship Series. Verlander struck out 13 in a five-hitter in Game 2 and then helped the Astros stave off elimination when he scattered five hits in seven innings of a 7-1 win in Game 6.Verlander might have been even better the last time the Yankees faced him on May 1. He had 14 strikeouts on 105 pitches in eight innings, but when Ken Giles replaced him, Gary Sanchez helped the Yankees to a 4-0 win by hitting a three-run homer in the ninth inning.Besides the three games against the Yankees with the Astros, Verlander is on an exceptional roll since being obtained from the Detroit Tigers shortly before the waiver trade deadline on Aug. 31.He is 11-2 with a 1.08 ERA in 16 regular-season starts. Including his postseason performances, the veteran right-hander is 15-3 with a 1.36 ERA for Houston.Overall, Verlander is 6-2 with a 1.08 ERA this season. Since joining the Astros, opponents are hitting .156 against him.The right-hander's next win will be his 195th. If he gets it Monday, he will join CC Sabathia and Bartolo Colon as the third active pitcher to reach the mark.Verlander last pitched Wednesday in a 4-1 win over the San Francisco Giants when he allowed one run and three hits in six innings. He struck out nine and issued one walk."I was probably a little rusty," Verlander said after his last start. "But overall was able to execute pitches when I needed to against a really good lineup that makes you work hard." Verlander has completed at least six innings and allowed two runs or less in his last nine outings. It is the longest streak by an Astros pitcher since Mike Scott set the record with 14 in his Cy Young season of 1986.Verlander's success also goes back to his last month with the Tigers. Since July 30, he is 20-4 with a 1.54 ERA and 230 strikeouts in 193 1/3 innings.In the regular season against the Yankees, Verlander is 6-7 with a 3.61 ERA in 19 starts. At the current Yankee Stadium, he is 1-4 with a 4.38 ERA in eight starts.Besides figuring out how to generate offense against Verlander or work his pitch count, the Yankees will attempt to figure out how to get out Jose Altuve, who is hitting .330 and leads the AL with a .400 average (46-for-115) in road games.While the Yankees improved to 15-3 in their last 18 home games with a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, Altuve went 4-for-6 in an eventual 10-9, 14-inning loss at Cleveland. He set a team record with 10 straight hits, but Houston blew a five-run lead in the ninth and a one-run lead in the 13th, and took its third loss in 11 games.Domingo German was one of the reasons the Yankees had a chance to win in their last encounter with Verlander. German will make his fourth start of the season on Monday and ninth appearance after allowing six runs in 3 2/3 innings of Tuesday's 6-4 loss at Texas.German faced the Astros after Jordan Montgomery exited after the first inning with a strained left elbow on May 1. He pitched four scoreless innings and was inserted into the rotation for Montgomery, who played catch Saturday and is progressing.
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