Facing his former team, Astros starter Justin Verlander achieved his 250th strikeout of the season on Monday night, fanning Tigers catcher James McCann for the first out of the second inning. Rotation-mate Gerrit Cole already has 251 strikeouts on the year -- the highest total in the American League. Verlander and Cole are the first teammates to strike out 250 batters or more in a season since the Diamondbacks’ Randy Johnson (334) and Curt Schilling (316) in 2002.
Verlander was pitching at Comerica Park for the first time as a visitor. He went seven innings, yielding two runs on six hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts on 104 pitches.
Verlander now has a 15-9 record, a 2.72 ERA, and a 258/35 K/BB ratio over 188 innings. The veteran right-hander will certainly be in the discussion for the AL Cy Young Award after the season.