Justin Verlander has won 244 games in the major leagues, but none in the World Series until Thursday night. After 16 years of trying, the Houston Astros pitcher got that elusive first Series victory as his team beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 in Game 5 and took a 3-2 lead in the Series.
Verlander, 39, is expected to win his third Cy Young Award this month. His teammates celebrated the milestone as if he were a rookie. "They put me in the cart and rolled me in the shower and just doused me with all sorts of stuff," he said. "And it was one of the best feelings in my career."
The right-hander gave up one run and four hits over five innings, with four walks and six strikeouts. He had entered the night 0-6 with a 6.07 ERA in eight Series starts dating to his rookie season with Detroit in 2006. The outing lowered that mark to 5.63. He is one of just five Astros left from the 2017 team that was caught using video to steal signs.
Houston struck first, scoring on rookie Jeremy Peña's run-scoring single just four pitches into the game against Noah Syndergaard. Kyle Schwarber answered with his fifth postseason homer to lead off the bottom of the first. That echoed Game 1, when Verlander squandered a five-run lead in a 6-5, 10-inning Houston loss. "I've given up leadoff home runs before. Let me bear down," Verlander said of his mindset.
Philadelphia loaded the bases in the second, but Verlander struck out Rhys Hoskins on a slider to escape. In the fifth, Bryce Harper doubled with two outs, and manager Dusty Baker kept Verlander in to face Nick Castellanos. Verlander won a 10-pitch at-bat with a flyout to short left. "It's a game of centimeters," Castellanos said.
Peña finished with three hits, including a fourth-inning homer on a hanging curveball that put Houston up 2-1. His eighth-inning single set up Yordan Alvarez's run-scoring groundout. He also made a leaping catch in the third to rob Castellanos.
The defense preserved the lead late. After Jean Segura's RBI single in the eighth, reliever Ryan Pressly struck out Brandon Marsh and got Schwarber on a hard one-hopper that Trey Mancini snagged at first base. Mancini had entered after Yuli Gurriel hurt his right knee in a collision during a rundown. "I just tackled it basically," Mancini said.
In the ninth, center fielder Chas McCormick, who grew up a Phillies fan in the Philadelphia suburbs, ran 91 feet to make a leaping backhand catch against the fence on J.T. Realmuto. "I was going to run through a wall and catch it no matter what," McCormick said. Castellanos then grounded to shortstop to end the 3-hour, 57-minute game.
Houston can clinch Saturday night at Minute Maid Park, which would give the Astros their second championship and the 73-year-old Baker his first title in 25 seasons as a major league manager. Of earlier Series tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner has taken the title 31 of 47 times. Philadelphia, in vintage powder blue uniforms for the first time in the Series since 1983, lost consecutive games for the first time this postseason.
Houston left-hander Framber Valdez is set to face Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler in Game 6. Hoskins noted that Philadelphia has already won in Houston this Series, saying it "should give us a little more confidence."
