Sports: Verlander Stellar in Astro’s 1-0 Win

Justin Verlander pitched eight innings of one-hit ball in his second start for Houston.  The former Tigers’ ace has been stellar in both starts for his new team.  He gave up a lead-off double to Brandon Phillips on Tuesday night in Anaheim, and then blanked the Angels through eight for a 1-0 win.  The victory ends a four-game losing streak by the Astros, who are 14 games in front of second place LA in the AL West.  Verlander struck out nine and walked one.   He threw 112 pitches, 71 for strikes.

The Indians are about to clinch the Central division.  The Red Sox lead the Yankees by four games in the East.

The Nationals and Dodgers have already clinched their divisions.  The only real race in baseball is the NL Central, where the Cubs lead the Cardinals and Brewers by 2 and 2 ½ games.

Tigers      

The Indians have tied the 2002 Oakland Athletics record 20 game win streak, beating the Detroit Tigers 2-0 on Tuesday night.

Matt Boyd started for the Tigers, and got into early trouble as Francisco Lindor homered in the first.  Boyd threw a lot of pitches through five innings of work, but that was the only run he allowed. The Indians pushed across another run in the sixth, but that was it.  Corey Kluber raised his record to 16-4 with a four-hitter.

Today, the Tribe will try to tie the 1935 Chicago Cubs with a 21^st straight win.

We’ll have the game following “Live with Renk” at noon.

The Indians lead the Central Division by 13 1/2 games over the Twins.  The Tigers are 28 ½ games back.

Tigers-Medical

Tigers’ DH Victor Martinez has undergone a heart ablation procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat.  Detroit starting pitcher Michael Fulmer had elbow surgery to correct a nerve issue.

College Football

The Big Ten will increase its number of conference games in the opening weeks of the season in 2020 and 2021. Week 1 will feature three conference games in 2020 and there will be four in 2021.

About a dozen Michigan State players are expected to travel to Texas later this week to help relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Offensive lineman Tyler Higby, who is from Houston, says the players will all be staying at his house and spending a couple days helping the community. The Spartans have an open date on their schedule this coming weekend.

Lions

The Detroit Lions have signed punter Jeff Locke after Kasey Redfern had a knee injury in the season opener. The Lions announced they are also putting offensive tackle Corey Robinson on injured reserve and have signed offensive tackle Emmett Cleary.

The Lions play at the New York Giants next Monday night.

Volleyball

The KCC Volleyball team lost to Grand Rapids Community College in four, to fall to 8-2 on the season and 4-2 in conference play.

Head Coach Tom VanWienen says it was a great match by both teams and on that will help get the team moving forward.