Houston Astros' Justin Verlander Joins Exclusive Company in Win Over Detroit Tigers

Justin Verlander led the Houston Astros to a decisive win over his former team, the Detroit Tigers, on Sunday, making history in the process.

The 41-year-old right-hander tossed 7.0 scoreless innings in what turned out to be a 9-3 road win for the Astros, giving up just two hits and two walks to the 25 batters he faced. It was quite the bounce-back performance for Verlander, who gave up seven earned runs in 5.0 innings against the New York Yankees on May 7.

Beyond that, though, it marked Verlander's 50th career start of 7.0-plus innings pitched and zero runs allowed.

According to Underdogs Fantasy's Jayhay, Verlander is the eighth pitcher to join that club since the start of the Wild Card era in 1994. Clayton Kershaw leads the way with 64 such starts, while Randy Johnson tossed 57 and Tim Hudson had 56.

Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux and Adam Wainwright are next up on the leaderboards. Verlander's former Astros teammate, Zack Greinke, had 51 in his career.

Today was Justin Verlander’s 50th career start of 7+ IP and 0 R.

He’s the 8th pitcher to reach 50 such starts in the Wild Card Era, joining: Clayton Kershaw (64), Randy Johnson (57), Tim Hudson (56), Pedro Martínez (53), Greg Maddux & Adam Wainwright (52) & Zack Greinke (51).
— nugget chef (@jayhaykid) May 12, 2024

It isn't shocking to see Verlander join that list, considering he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball ever since he made his MLB debut in 2005. The former No. 2 overall pick was a superstar in his 13 seasons with the Tigers, and he has hardly lost a step with the Astros.

Verlander is 259-142 with a 3.24 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 3,365 strikeouts and an 81.1 WAR in his career. He's been so consistently great over the years that his latest gem Sunday took less than 0.007 off his lifetime ERA.

Five starts into his age-41 season, Verlander is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.

With nine All-Star appearances, three Cy Youngs, two World Series rings and an MVP under his belt, there isn't much Verlander hasn't achieved. Now, Verlander has yet another bullet point that could be featured on his Hall of Fame plaque in Cooperstown.

Verlander also won his 101st game at Comerica Park on Sunday, which extends his lead for the most all-time. Hall of Famer Jack Morris won 100 games at Tiger Stadium.

Justin Verlander gets his 101st career victory at Comerica Park as the @Astros take the series! pic.twitter.com/XvSR6dpE5M
— MLB (@MLB) May 12, 2024

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