Verlander doesn't miss a step in second first start

NEW YORK -- The drama was building in the Bronx on Saturday, with Yankees slugger Aaron Judge coming to the plate in the seventh inning of a one-run game. The last thing pitcher Justin Verlander was going to do in his first start since returning to the Astros was not be on the mound for one of the more pivotal moments of the day.

So when manager Dusty Baker came from the dugout with two outs and a runner at first base, Verlander put his glove over his mouth and told Baker he wasn’t going anywhere. Another skipper may have been caught off guard, but not Baker. He managed Verlander last season and probably knew how the conversation was going to go.

“Obviously, that was a big spot in the game with one of the best hitters in the world and it wasn’t like I was at 110 pitches or anything,” Verlander said. “I said, ‘I’m good.’”

Baker told Verlander to go for it, and two pitches later he got Judge to pop out to complete seven strong innings in his first outing with the Astros since Game 5 of last year’s World Series. Verlander gave up seven hits, two runs, two walks and struck out four batters in the Astros’ 3-1 loss at Yankee Stadium.

“It felt great to be back here,” said Verlander, who spent the first four months of the season pitching for the crosstown Mets.

Verlander’s late career resurgence in Houston, which included AL Cy Young Awards in 2019 and ‘22, World Series titles in ‘17 and ‘22, and his third career no-hitter in ‘19, provided the 40-year-old with some of the most satisfying years of his career. So much so that he waived the no-trade clause in his Mets contract to pave the way to get dealt to Houston on Tuesday.

“It felt oddly familiar,” Verlander said. “There’s like this moment of time I wasn’t here, and it was really only three months because I missed the first month with injury. It’s been very easy to think I’ve been here the whole time. I love these guys and being able to go out there and compete with them again. It’s a lot of fun.”

Verlander threw 97 pitches, including 52 fastballs, 21 curveballs and 20 sliders. He generated only four swings and misses and gave up some hard contact, especially early in the game when he battled his mechanics. After throwing 22 pitches in the first inning and 19 in the second, he got back on track with eight apiece in the third and fourth.

“It was a battle [in the] first few innings,” Verlander said. “I was just kind of all over the place control-wise. I’m not exactly sure why, but I was able to rein it in and make some better pitches and keep us in the ballgame. It definitely felt better after the last few innings.”

Yankees leadoff hitter Jake Bauers clubbed a homer in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie, and that was all New York needed. The Astros managed only two hits, including the 200th career home run by Jose Altuve in the third inning, and struck out 16 times against five Yankees pitchers. Starter Nestor Cortes struck out eight in four innings in his first start since May 30.

Verlander was 8-1 with a 1.82 ERA in his previous 13 starts against the Yankees before taking the loss Saturday.

"Yeah, finally,” said Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres, who hit a homer off reliever Kendall Graveman in the eighth. “Verlander pitched really well. He's a Hall of Famer. We always have trouble getting consistency with him. But today we tried to attack earlier, tried to hit the mistakes. We got a couple of opportunities, and we took advantage of that."

Verlander settled into a rhythm quickly with catcher Martín Maldonado, who caught him last year en route to the Cy Young. Altuve said it was as if Verlander never left. It’s those personalities and relationships that Verlander missed the most about the Astros.

“The culture we’ve established here over the last five, six years means a lot,” he said. “Some of the guys who have helped establish that culture have come and gone, but it still resonates through to the young guys with the leadership we still have with Altuve, [Alex] Bregman, Maldonado, myself and [Michael] Brantley, coming from the other guys that have just been here and done their part and played the game the right way.

“It helps establish a culture you see reverberates to everybody in here. That’s not easy to come by, and we don’t take it for granted.”