Inside The Pinstripes

Did New York Yankees Break Justin Verlander?

The New York Yankees finally turned the tables on Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander.

Tyler Maher

May 1, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35).
May 1, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35). / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
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After years of bowing to Justin Verlander, the New York Yankees finally got their revenge on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees jumped all over the aging Houston Astros ace from the start, quickly erasing a 1-0 deficit with Alex Verdugo's three-run homer in the bottom of the first. After that, it was all New York.

Following a scoreless second inning, the barrage resumed in the third. The Yankees scratched out another run on Verdugo's RBI single, then got a pair of runs in the fourth on Anthony Volpe's two-run shot. Giancarlo Stanton greeted Verlander in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff homer, extending New York's lead to 7-1 en route to a 10-3 drubbing.

It was a nightmare outing for Verlander, who watched his ERA balloon from 2.08 to 4.43 in his first loss of the season. He finished the evening with seven runs (all earned) allowed on eight hits in five innings. He

After the game, a distraught Verlander sounded like a beaten man during his postgame interview with reporters.

"They had a good approach and I wasn't very good," Verlander admitted. "These guys showed me today that I got some work to do. I got to be more deceptive."

Verlander certainly wasn't fooling the Yankees on Tuesday. The three-time Cy Young winner finished with more walks (three) than strikeouts (two) and surrendered a season-high three homers. He also got pounded for 10 line drives, giving up hard contact all over the place and notching just five swinging strikes.

"If anything, I figured out that I need to be better. Starting tomorrow, I got a lot of work to do," said the demoralized veteran.

After consistently coming up short against Verlander and his teammates in recent postseasons, New York had the upper hand on Tuesday. The 41-year-old hasn't looked like himself this season and talked about needing to "go back to the drawing board," but there's only so many adjustments one can make to compensate for diminished stuff.

With Verlander and the sputtering Astros both seemingly at rock bottom, the Yankees may not need to worry about them anymore.

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Tyler Maher

TYLER MAHER

Tyler grew up in Massachusetts and is a huge Boston sports fan, especially the Red Sox. He went to Tufts University and played club baseball for the Jumbos. Since graduating, he has worked for MLB.com, The Game Day, FanDuel and Forbes. When he's not writing about baseball, he enjoys running, traveling, and playing fetch with his golden retriever.