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For a guy who did not pitch well, Justin Verlander sure pitched well.
The Cooperstown-bound veteran was persistently in trouble in World Series Game 5. Yet, the only run he allowed in five innings came off of his second pitch. He followed a masterpiece — Houston’s four-pitcher no-hitter 24 hours earlier — with a master class. In navigating his own Fall Classic misery, lack of familiar pinpoint control and constant base traffic.
“He fought,” his catcher, Martin Maldonado said.
Verlander was not vintage. He recognized early — the first clue being Kyle Schwarber’s homer — that the Phillies were hunting his fastball. Steadily, he found his slider. But not quick enough to dominate and get deep into the game. But long enough for 15 outs and to line up Dusty Baker to deploy an overpowering bullpen to its best usage. It was enough to give the Astros a stronghold on the 118th World Series.
“I don’t think JV would want it any other way,” Houston third baseman Alex Bregman said. “He had to make big pitch after big pitch. That’s Justin Verlander.”
For the first time in nine World Series starts, Verlander earned a win. The “win” does not hold the allure that it once did. Still, to not have one while sporting the worst ERA (6.07) for any of 99 pitchers who had reached 30 Fall Classic innings stood out as the dent on the door of an Aston Martin career.
But he overcame Schwarber’s homer leading off the bottom of the first that tied the score 1-1. And four walks — as many as he registered in his final five regular-season outings covering 32 innings.
