Astros at Blue Jays
Houston Astros right-hander Justin Verlander has a chance to tie for the major league lead in victories and match his highest win total in seven years when he takes the mound for Sunday's series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays. The 2011 American League Cy Young Award winner has struggled in his career against the Blue Jays, beating them three times in 13 starts.
Houston suffered only its third loss in 13 games in Saturday's 6-4 defeat to fall one game behind the New York Yankees for the best record in the American League. Yuli Gurriel had a two-run double and has nine RBIs during a nine-game hitting streak to push his season total within three of 100 for the Astros. Cava Biggio has hit safely in four straight after homering for the second straight day and driving in three runs to lift Toronto to its third victory in 12 games. Fellow rookie Bo Bichette extended his hitting streak to seven games with his 14th multiple-hit game of the month for the Blue Jays, who send opener Wilmer Font to the mound to oppose Verlander.
TV: 1:07 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston), TVA, Sportsnet, OMNI (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Justin Verlander (16-5, 2.69 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Wilmer Font (3-3, 4.35)
Although he failed to reach double-digit strikeouts for the first time in eight starts, Verlander continued his bid for the Cy Young Award by allowing four hits over 5 1/3 scoreless innings versus Tampa Bay on Tuesday. The 36-year-old improved to 6-1 with a 2.04 ERA over his last nine outings, racking up 90 strikeouts against seven walks in 57 1/3 innings. Teoscar Hernandez is 3-for-4 against Verlander, who is 9-2 with a 2.98 ERA in 15 starts away from home this season.
The well-traveled Font, who is with his third different team this season, has carved out a niche as the opener and will make his ninth consecutive appearance in that role in the series finale. The 29-year-old Venezuelan struck out four and permitted one hit in two scoreless frames Tuesday versus Atlanta to lower his ERA to 1.76 in eight appearances as the opener this month. George Springer is 3-for-3 with a home run off Font, who has 24 strikeouts over 15 1/3 innings in August.
WALK-OFFS
1. Springer has reached base safely in 22 consecutive games.
2. Hernandez needs one homer to match his career high of 22 from last year.
3. The Astros placed RHP Collin McHugh (elbow) on the 10-day injured list.