Oh, the opinion is defensible for sure. But at the same time you have to admit last night's performance was extremely gutty, gritty, and deserving of the W.
Curious about one thing, and I don't want to research it, so I'll just ask here. Before last night, was Verlander 0-6 with some other no decisions because he left the game with a lead? Or was he simply 6 starts and 6 losses?
2006 game 1 -- left after 5, down 4-1. Tigers lost 7-2. 2006 game 5 -- left after 6, down 3-2. Tigers lost 4-2. 2012 game 1 -- left after 4, down 5-0. Tigers lost 8-3. 2017 game 2 -- left after 6, down 3-1. Astros rallied to win 7-6 in 11 innings. 2017 game 6 -- left after 6, down 2-1. Astros lost 3-1. 2019 game 2 -- left after 6+, down 4-2. Astros lost 12-3. 2019 game 6 -- left after 5, down 3-2. Astros lost 7-2. 2022 game 1 -- left after 5, tied 5-5. Astros lost 6-5 in 10 innings. Thus, going into yesterday's game, Verlander had started 8 games, with an 0-6 record and 2 no-decisions (neither of which involved a blown lead).
In every loss except the most recent one, he got 2 or less runs in support. Kinda like Nolan Ryan back in the day.
That's an era of 6.36 in those eight games. Not going to win much with those numbers. He did a shaky but solid job last night getting it done.
Lot of people in Houston are enjoying their free furniture today. I wonder how much of that $75 million in winnings will go back to customers.
What the Astros have done is pretty amazing especially if you consider how many stars they have lost from the 2017 team that won it all. Also lost their manager and their GM. This team used to go as Altuve went, but he was pretty quiet in the post-season and still, it didn't matter.
World Series champs! Here's three pics from the parade yesterday. Start time: Mattress Mack: Jim Crane, Dusty (with trophy), and JV (with Kate):
Dusty's first game as manager was with the Giants in 1993 vs the Cardinals............leadoff hitter for St. Louis was Geronimo Pena..........Jeremy Pena's dad.