Astros feel immediate impact as 2 key players rejoin team

HOUSTON -- The Astros got two key members of their team back on Wednesday, with Justin Verlander and Alex Bregman returning from injuries.

Verlander was solid in his first start in over two months, and Bregman gave the Astros a boost early, but Houston’s offensive struggles continued as it fell 4-1 to the Red Sox at Minute Maid Park.

Verlander, who hadn't pitched since June 9 because of a stiff neck, yielded two runs on four hits with six strikeouts in five innings.

“I thought he looked really good,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “Fastball looked really good up to 96 [mph]. There was some intent behind all of his pitches. The breaking balls were pretty good. He executed some really good breaking balls. I thought that was really good to see.”

After a shaky first two innings, Verlander settled down and retired the final 10 batters he faced.

“Things started to settle in a little bit,” Verlander said. “I just kind of kept telling myself, ‘Find your groove, find your groove.’ I went back out there for the third, and I was able to find it and settle in.”

Espada said he looked at pitching coach Josh Miller when Verlander was at 40 pitches in the second inning, “and I’m like, ‘Whoa,’ but JV just finds a way. He finds a way to get people out.”

“He settled in,” Espada said. “One time through, he gets a feel for what they’re looking for, what he has working for him. Then he just goes from there. … That’s why he’s been one of the best.”

Of his 76 pitches, half of them were four-seam fastballs, 16 were curveballs, 13 sliders and nine changeups. Verlander relied mostly on his fastball in the first inning, throwing it for 12 out of 19 pitches, maintaining the pitch between 93.9 and 95.7 mph. He topped out at 95.9 mph on the fastball.

Verlander said he was able to relax after the first inning.

“Adrenaline was pretty high the first inning or so,” Verlander said. “I felt like the ball was coming out good, so I was able to relax a little bit and kind of not trying to throw every fastball as hard as I could and locate a little better. I was able to do that.

“Hover, in the first inning, 95-96 and then the third through the fifth was more 93-94, and I had a little more in the tank if I needed it. When I was throwing at that velocity, I felt like I was able to locate really well. Started trusting the slider more. Really just kind of started trusting my stuff.”

The Astros’ offense started off well.

Bregman, who had missed the past five games with a sore right elbow, led off the first with a solo home run into the Crawford Boxes. It was Bregman’s 20th home run of the season and his first career leadoff homer. He hit it 109.1 mph, the hardest-hit homer of his career.

“I felt good,” Bregman said. “I felt similar to how it’s been before, but obviously, you miss five days and sometimes timing gets a little off. I felt pretty good out there.”

Bregman said his elbow will be a “fluid situation” for the rest of the season.

“I threw today for the first time,” Bregman said. “The arm felt good. I didn’t feel any pain or any discomfort or anything. It’s just going to be one of those things to take day by day and see how it feels the rest of the year moving forward.”

He still does have swelling though.

“There’s nothing structurally wrong with the UCL, but some little gremlins in there causing some swelling that we’re just going to have to mitigate the rest of the year,” Bregman said.

Houston went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the finale and finished the series with Boston 3-for-26, including 0-for-15 over the final two games.

Trailing 3-1 in the seventh, the Astros missed a chance to tie it up. After pinch-hitter Trey Cabbage walked to load the bases with one out, Bregman flew out to foul ground in right and Yordan Alvarez struck out on three pitches to end the threat.

“It was one of those days where we just couldn’t get a big hit,” Espada said. “We’ve been getting big hits here for the last couple weeks. It’s just one of those days.”