Maldonado was hitless in his first 15 at-bats before driving an 0-1 pitch from Chris Flexen out to left field for a 3-0 lead in the fifth. Martín Maldonado provided the big blow on offense with a two-run homer for his first hit of the season. "That's about as dominant a performance as you're going to see and for a guy that has been doing it in this league for a long, long time," Seattle manager Scott Servais said. Verlander pitched five strong innings in his season debut last week against the Angels, only to be outdueled by fellow Tommy John recoveree Noah Syndergaard. "Now, a month from now? He would probably want to finish that game out." "He kind of emptied the tank on that eighth inning," Houston manager Dusty Baker said. Verlander was surprised to see his pitch count so low after seven innings, which gave him a chance to go back out for the eighth. Crawford, who was hit by a pitch in the seventh. The only other batter to reach base was J.P.
Verlander struck out eight with no walks on 87 pitches. The only hits he allowed to Seattle were a leadoff single by Adam Frazier in the first and Ty France's singles in the fourth and sixth.
1, 2019, when he no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays. Leaning mostly on his fastball and slider, Verlander finished eight innings for the first time since Sept. "But that being said, it is definitely gratifying to have that feeling again of going out there after a tough loss yesterday and being able to pick us up and (go) deep in the game, and do really what I expect to do most times out." "I wouldn't have put in all the hard work if I didn't think I could still pitch at a high level," Verlander said. He earned his first victory since beating Seattle on July 24, 2020, on opening day of the shortened 2020 season, before undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. A day after watching the Mariners pile up 11 runs against Houston pitching, Verlander (1-1) looked to be back in the form that earned him the 2019 AL Cy Young Award.
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