Astros at Rangers
Justin Verlander has been nothing short of sensational since being acquired by the Houston Astros, posting a 4-0 mark with a rail-thin 0.64 ERA in four starts with his new club. Verlander aims to continue his stellar form as the Astros bid for the top mark in the American League on Wednesday afternoon in the third contest of a four-game series versus the host Texas Rangers.
Brian McCann and Cameron Maybin each homered and drove in three runs as Houston posted its 10th win in 12 outings with a 14-3 rout on Tuesday. The offensive uprising was accomplished without the services of Jose Altuve (AL-best 199 hits and .348 batting average), who is considered day-to-day as he nurses a left forearm contusion sustained after he was hit by a pitch in the series opener. The AL West-champion Astros (97-60) have ascended to within one game of Cleveland (98-59) for the top mark in the league, although the Indians own the tiebreaker for home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs if they finish with the same record. Texas, which sends right-hander Nick Martinez to the mound, officially was eliminated from postseason contention following its fifth consecutive loss on Tuesday.
TV: 2:05 p.m. ET, ESPN, AT&T SportsNet-Southwest (Houston), FSN Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Justin Verlander (14-8, 3.38 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Nick Martinez (3-7, 5.42)
Verlander improved to 6-0 in his last seven starts on Friday after allowing just one hit and striking out six in seven innings of a 3-0 win versus the Los Angeles Angels. The 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner's last loss came at the expense of the Rangers, against whom he surrendered three homers and five runs total in six innings of a 10-4 setback while pitching with Detroit on Aug. 15. Verlander has struggled in his career against Elvis Andrus (.308), although former Astro Carlos Gomez (.118) and Joey Gallo (.167) have been held in check.
Martinez fell to 0-4 with a 6.80 ERA in his last 10 appearances (six starts, four relief) after allowing four runs for the third straight outing in Friday's 4-1 loss at Oakland. The 27-year-old owns an 0-2 record with a 4.58 ERA in four games versus the Astros this season, including a loss despite yielding two runs in five innings of a 5-1 setback on Aug. 31. Josh Reddick (8-for-18), Carlos Correa (5-for-9) and Alex Bregman (4-for-9) have gotten under the skin of Martinez, although the hurler has kept Altuve (5-for-23) in check.
WALK-OFFS
1. Houston LF Marwin Gonzalez is 8-for-12 with four RBIs and five runs scored in his last three contests.
2. Texas 2B Rougned Odor is mired in an 0-for-14 slump in his last six games.
3. Astros C Evan Gattis has collected back-to-back two-hit performances after going 2-for-21 against the Rangers previously this season.