LEADING OFF: Verlander Backs Rolling Astros, Mending Dodgers
Houston tries for its 13th straight win with AL ERA leader Justin Verlander on the mound against Tampa Bay. The Astros’ ace is 9-2 with a 1.61 ERA, though he’s posted a 3.79 ERA over his past three starts and matched a season high with two homers allowed last time out in a 7-3 win over Oakland.
Rays lefty Blake Snell (8-4, 2.58) will try to slow down Houston after the Astros beat Tampa Bay 5-4 on Alex Bregman’s game-ending two-run double Monday.
The defending NL champions are beginning to get healthier. Rich Hill comes off the DL to start for the Dodgers in the nightcap of a doubleheader against the Cubs in a rematch of last year’s NL Championship Series. Hill (1-2, 6.20 ERA) went on the disabled list May 20 with a blister on his left middle finger, a recurring problem for the veteran left-hander.
He will be opposed by fellow lefty Mike Montgomery (2-2, 3.31), who is 2-1 with a 1.14 ERA in four starts since moving into the rotation after Yu Darvish was sidelined by right triceps tendinitis.
Hill’s return comes one day after Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw threw a three-inning simulated game at Wrigley Field, taking another step forward in his recovery from a strained lower back.
Veteran second baseman Chase Utley, sidelined by sprained left thumb, is expected to come off the DL with Hill. And rookie right-hander Walker Buehler, one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, is scheduled for a bullpen session Saturday in New York, continuing his comeback from a right rib microfracture.
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