Not exactly sure why, but I was able to rein it in, make some better pitches and keep us in the ballgame. “I was kind of all over the place control-wise. “It was a battle, the first three innings,” Verlander said. In his first start for the Astros since winning Game 5 of the World Series at Philadelphia last November, the 40-year-old right-hander averaged 94 mph on his 52 four-seam fastballs.
He struck out four, walked two and fell to 10-8 against New York in the regular season. Verlander (6-6) allowed two runs and seven hits, losing a regular-season start to the Yankees for the first time since June 2015 with Detroit. Gleyber Torres also went deep for New York, and Nestor Cortes struck out a season-high eight over four innings during an encouraging return to the mound following two months on the injured list. NEW YORK (AP) - Justin Verlander began his second stint with the Houston Astros by pitching seven solid innings, but he gave up a go-ahead homer to Jake Bauers that sent the New York Yankees to a 3-1 victory Saturday.
