Astros' Verlander 1st pitcher to go 0-5 in World Series

HOUSTON (AP) — All of Justin Verlander's illustrious accomplishments mean little right now.

Not those 225 wins, not the 3,006 regular season strikeouts, not the record 202 postseason Ks. Not the eight All-Star selections, not the 2011 Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player prize.

Verlander dropped to 0-5 in World Series games Wednesday night as the Washington Nationals routed the Houston Astros 12-3 for a 2-0 Series lead. That skid on baseball's biggest stage is dragging the right-hander's reputation down like ballast sinking a ship to the bottom of the sea.

Never before has a pitcher lost his first five World Series decisions.

"We don't dwell on win-loss record anymore, right?" he said with a smile, a reference to modern analytics by one of the sport's most knowledgeable players. "I'd like to win a couple. Hopefully, I'll have another opportunity."

He wound up flat on his back in the fourth inning, slipping on Ryan Zimmerman's grounder and firing the ball off his own left leg . Verlander could smile about that one, an instant blooper reel staple.

But he was razed along with all the Astros in the seventh, and that was no laughing matter.

On his 100th pitch, Verlander gave up a go-ahead home run to Kurt Suzuki , who had not driven in a run in this postseason, the start of a spirit-crushing six-run inning that lifted Washington.

Suzuki is a .340 (16 for 45) hitter against Verlander, and the big home run off a 94 mph fastball at the letters came on Verlander's second pitch to catcher Martín Maldonado, who had not been behind the plate for Verlander since the 2018 AL Championship Series.

Prior to Suzuki's at-bat, every pitch by Verlander this season had been delivered to catcher Robinson Chirinos, who left when manager AJ Hinch replaced him with pinch-hitter Kyle...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Astros-Verlander-1st-pitcher-to-go-0-5-in-World-14558267.php