On Sunday, two Justins helped make the Houston Astros heartily sick of hearing that name. (St Justin Martyr, by the way, was an important Christian apologist in the second century AD, in case you were wondering.) The new-style 'bend-don't-break' Justin Verlander 'twirled', as the old chaps would say, six decent innings. Justin Upton meanwhile scored two runs and drove in four more.
All this came as a surprise to me. In the third inning the failure to score off three hard-hit balls in the third inning -- courtesy Justin ('ITNA') Upton, Miguel Cabrera and Nick Castellanos -- put me in mind of the Kinsler catch on Saturday, as an omen. In this case, where the Kinsler catcher foretold ultimate success, the three clouts warned that all might not be well. Instead it perhaps foreshadowed Lance McCullers being sent to the disabled list.
In the end, despite some hard graft in the early innings to force across a couple of runs, the Tigers ran away with this one. So, next time people tell you 'The Tigers ought to rebuild' after that horrific showing against the Royals, just point out how close they came this weekend to sweeping the team with the best record in the American League.
QMAX rating, Justin Verlander, Success Square. Batting win values: Machado 0.099 Iglesias 0.094 Cabrera 0.042 McCann 0.042 J-Upton 0.033 Avila 0 Adduci 0 Mahtook -0.023 Romine -0.032 Castellanos -0.060 V-Mart -0.126
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