Verlander Shuts Down Giants In 4-1 Win
HOUSTON (AP) — Justin Verlander got some run support for the first time in nearly a month and led the Houston Astros over the San Francisco Giants 4-1 on Wednesday.
Verlander (6-2) struck out nine and walked one in six innings, allowing one run and three hits as his major league-leading ERA rose slightly to 1.08. He had given up just three runs over 29 innings during his previous four starts, but the Astros had scored just three runs in that span, getting shut out twice.
Will Harris, Brad Peacock and Ken Giles each followed with a one-hit inning. Giles remained perfect in nine save chances.
George Springer hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the fifth on a 93 mph fastball from Jeff Samardzija (1-3), driving the ball off the facade above the left-field seats. Carlos Correa added an RBI single later in the inning.
Samardzija allowed four runs, four hits and a season-high five walks in 4 2/3 innings.
Buster Posey's sacrifice fly put San Francisco ahead in the fourth following Gorkys Hernandez's triple. Houston tied the score in the bottom half when Correa scored from first as right fielder Andrew McCutchen allowed Yuli Gurriel's fly ball near the foul line to drop behind his glove for an error.
Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve had steals as the Astros were aggressive on the bases against catcher Nick Hundley. Bregman and Tony Kemp also were caught stealing.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Giants: LHP Madison Bumgarner, on the DL since spring training with a broken pinkie on his throwing hand, will begin a rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday, manager Bruce Bochy said. He threw 30 pitches on Tuesday in his first action against hitters since he was injured.
Astros: OF Josh Reddick was put on the 10-day DL with an infection in his left leg. Reddick was in and out of the lineup over the past week with soreness above the knee. Houston recalled OF Jake Marisnick, who was just optioned to Triple-A Fresno on May 16 after hitting .141 with three homers and seven RBIs in 85 at-bats.
UP NEXT
Giants: Derek Holland (2-5, 4.94 ERA) will open a three-game series at Wrigley Field on Friday. Holland allowed four runs on six hits in six innings against Colorado in his last start and hasn't faced the Cubs since 2013.
Astros: Charlie Morton (6-0, 1.94 ERA) will face the Indians on Thursday to open a four-game series in Cleveland. In his most recent outing, also against the Indians, Morton allowed one run on four hits while striking out eight and walking one in seven innings.