HOUSTON (AP) — Justin Verlander earned his major league-leading eighth win, Jeremy Peña and Jose Altuve homered and the Houston Astros snapped their three-game losing streak with a 9-4 victory over the Miami Marlins on Sunday.
“I’m happy that we ended this losing streak,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “Sometimes it can get a life of its own and turn into a monster. So, that was a big monkey off our backs.”
Verlander (8-2) set down the first 10 batters he faced before giving up a flare single into shallow right field in the fourth inning.
Verlander gave up four unearned runs and three hits, walked one and struck out five in seven innings, lowering his ERA to 1.94. This was Verlander’s first career win against Miami and third straight start to go seven innings.
“When one of these streaks inevitably happens throughout the season — it always does — if and when it falls on your shoulders, you hope you’re the guy who’s able to stop it,” Verlander said. “I wouldn’t say it was all me today by any standard, but we were able to get it done.”
Houston had been 3 for 35 with runners in scoring position during the series and pushed across just two runs over the previous 12 innings before breaking out in the fourth.
Leading 1-0 off a first-inning RBI groundout from Michael Brantley, the Astros got a jolt when Peña crushed a first-pitch curveball off Miami starter Edward Cabrera for a two-run homer.
Houston tacked on two more runs in the fourth on Brantley’s RBI fielder’s choice and an RBI single from Yordan Alvarez, making it 5-0. Brantley finished 1 for 4 with two RBIs.
“Obviously, the game is about scoring runs, especially to score early and give Justin the lead and take some pressure off the offense,” Brantley said. “At the same time, I have a lot of trust in each of these…
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