Vintage Justin Verlander dominates as Astros shutout Mariners 4-0

SEATTLE – Justin Verlander pitched three-hit ball over eight innings for his first win since July 2020 and the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 4-0 on Saturday night.

Martín Maldonado provided the offense with a two-run homer for his first hit of the season.

A day after watching Seattle roll 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. Verlander earned his first victory since beating Seattle on July 24, 2020, on the opening day of the shortened 2020 season, before undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Leaning mostly on his fastball and slider, Verlander finished eight innings for the first time since Sept. 1, 2019, when he no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays. The only hits he allowed to Seattle were a leadoff single by Adam Frazier to begin the first and Ty France’s singles in the fourth and sixth innings.

Verlander struck out eight with no walks on 87 pitches. The only other batter to reach base was J.P. Crawford, who was hit by a pitch in the seventh. 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.

Maldonado was hitless in his first 15 at-bats this season before driving a 0-1 pitch from Chris Flexen out to deep left field for a 3-0 lead in the fifth. Jeremy Peña started the inning with a sharp single to cap an eight-pitch at-bat, and Maldonado didn’t miss on a poorly located fastball from Flexen.

Peña tripled in the seventh and scored on Jose Altuve’s RBI single off reliever Matt Festa.

Flexen (0-2) nearly matched zeros with Verlander until giving up the long ball. Flexen scattered five hits and struck out three. The Mariners have yet to score this season with Flexen on the mound.