Verlander in vintage form while pitching Mets to 5-1 win over White Sox
Justin Verlander is still Justin Verlander, but he's been showing his age a bit this year.
After signing a two-year, $86 million contract with the Mets in early December, the 40-year-old starting pitcher strained a muscle in his throwing shoulder right before Opening Day and he missed the first month of the season.
It's been a gradual return to form for Verlander, who won the American League Cy Young Award last year after going 21-6 with a 2.58 ERA for the World Series champion Astros.
The right-hander was 3-5 with a 3.72 ERA in 13 starts for New York before taking the mound against the White Sox at Citi Field.
It was a vintage outing for Verlander, who pitched the Mets to a 5-1 win while going 8 innings and allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 1 walk.
In his previous start, against the Dodgers Friday, the future Hall of Famer lasted just 5 innings and gave up 3 runs on 2 hits and 6 walks.
Verlander simplified his approach against the Sox.
"Throw less balls," he told reporters. "I just lost it for like 15 pitches (against the Dodgers), maybe not even. You go home and you think about it and the thought is, 'I did get it back. Nothing was broken.' Obviously, it was better today."
The White Sox have made many an opposing starter look good through their disappointing season, but they were on one of their better offensive rolls coming in.
They scored 10 runs in Tuesday night's loss to New York and combined for 14 in back-to-back wins against the powerhouse Braves over the weekend.
Making his 48th career start against the Sox, Verlander had a shutout going until Luis Robert Jr. homered with one out in the seventh inning.
"We're all talking about how he's attacking us, what he's trying to do," said first baseman Gavin Sheets, who was 1-for-3. "It seemed like tonight everybody had a little different story. He was attacking everyone individually."
While giving Verlander his due, White Sox manager Pedro Grifol wasn't happy with the overall approach.
"It's tough to hit somebody like that if you chase pitches," Grifol said. "You can game-plan against anybody but you have to stay in the strike zone. Any time you score one run, there's nothing to be excited about.
"If we swing at balls in the strike zone, we're good. If we're not, we have to get back to doing what we've done the last three, four days."
Touki Toussaint made his fourth start of the season for the Sox and the right-hander took the loss after allowing 5 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks over 6 innings.
Eloy Jimenez missed his second straight game with a strained groin, but he could be back in the White Sox's lineup Thursday afternoon as the three-game series against the Mets wraps up.