HOUSTON, TX - Major League Baseball announced today that Houston Astros RHP Justin Verlander has been named the American League Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 25-Oct. 1.
Through two starts last week, Verlander went 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA (1ER/13IP) and struck out 13 batters to four walks while allowing just five hits. He held opponents to a .116 batting average (5x43), as well as a .331 OPS. On the back of his outings, the Astros won two crucial games in the American League West Division playoff race on their way to winning the division title for the sixth time in the last seven years.
This marks the 10th career AL Player of the Week award for Verlander, with his last coming on September 1, 2019. Since the award came into existence in 1973, only three other pitchers have won 10-or-more Player of the Week Awards: Nolan Ryan (13), Roger Clemens (11) and Randy Johnson (10).
Verlander tossed five scoreless innings and struck out five batters on Saturday at Arizona to pick up a winning decision as the Astros secured a postseason spot with a 1-0 victory. In his first start of the week on Tuesday at Seattle, he allowed one run on three hits through eight innings with one walk and eight strikeouts in a 5-1 Astros victory. It matched his longest outing of the season and was his longest since being reacquired by the Astros on Aug. 1.
Verlander’s AL Player of the Week honor marks the fifth time an Astro has won the award this year, also won by 2B Jose Altuve (Aug. 7-13 and Sept. 4-10), LHP Framber Valdez (July 31-Aug. 6) and OF Chas McCormick (July 14-16).
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