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HOUSTON — Justin Verlander was wearing a New York Mets uniform when the season began.

But on Saturday night, he was right back where he has been so many times before, on the mound for the Houston Astros helping them to another playoff win.

Verlander pitched six shutout innings, Yordan Alvarez homered twice and the Astros held on for a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins in their AL Division Series opener.

Jose Altuve hit a leadoff home run and Alvarez had three RBIs as the defending World Series champions won their 2023 playoff debut to earn their 10th straight victory in Game 1 of a division series. That set a postseason record for longest Game 1 win streak in a single round, topping the Yankees’ streak of nine consecutive World Series Game 1 wins from 1937 to 1950.

Verlander first joined the Astros in August 2017 and won his second World Series title with the team last year. He signed with the Mets in the offseason, then returned to Houston in a July trade after a brief stint in the Big Apple.

“It’s been a whirlwind of a year, season for me,” Verlander said. “To find myself back here in Houston and pitching in the playoffs is not something I foresaw, but happy to be here, happy to help contribute, and happy to be in the playoffs.”

The 40-year-old Verlander allowed four hits and walked three with six strikeouts to get his 17th win in 35 postseason starts. It was his 10th playoff win with the Astros, the most in franchise history.

“He gave us all he had like he usually does, and he gave us quality,” manager Dusty Baker said. “Even when he doesn’t have his great stuff, he still manages to get people out.”

Especially against the Twins. Since 2018, Verlander is 6-1 in seven starts versus Minnesota and has a 23-inning scoreless streak.

Former Astros star Carlos Correa had two hits for the Twins, who continued to struggle at the plate with runners in scoring position. They went 1-for-12 after going 1-for-10 in the wild-card series against Toronto.

“We had a lot of traffic out there,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We’re one good swing or even one well-placed swing away from getting some real action going, putting some runs up, and we just didn’t get that.”

Verlander settled in after a shaky start and the Astros built a 5-0 lead through six innings with big swings from Altuve and Alvarez.

Héctor Neris took over for Verlander to start the seventh. With two outs, Jorge Polanco hit a soaring three-run homer to right field. Two pitches later, rookie Royce Lewis launched his third homer in three playoff games to make it 5-4.

In the bottom half, lefty Caleb Thielbar entered to face Alvarez with one out. The slugger became the first left-handed hitter to homer off Thielbar this season when he smacked an off-speed pitch off the foul pole in right to give Houston an insurance run.

“When I go up there, try not to think about the situation, try not to think about the noise,” Alvarez said in Spanish through a translator. “Just say to myself, ‘I’m the only one that can get the job done at this moment.'”

Thielbar called Alvarez a “great hitter.”

“He doesn’t really have a weakness to either hand,” he said. “You want to be the guy who comes in and faces him in a big spot. It just wasn’t meant to be today.”

Bryan Abreu got four outs for the Astros, striking out three, and Ryan Pressly fanned two in a scoreless ninth for the save. He struck out Lewis to end it.

The best-of-five series continues Sunday night in Houston, with Framber Valdez on the mound for the AL West champion Astros against Pablo López.

Altuve pounced on Bailey Ober‘s first pitch for his first career leadoff homer in the playoffs.

“It was really important,” Altuve said. “When we score first we are a better team.”

Alvarez connected off Ober on a two-run shot in the third to make it 3-0.

Altuve, who was 0-for-23 to open the playoffs last season, has 24 career postseason homers, which ranks second in major league history to Manny Ramirez (29). Saturday was Altuve’s eighth home run in the first inning of a playoff game, the most in MLB history.

Ober allowed four hits and three runs over three innings in his playoff debut for the AL Central champion Twins, who completed a two-game sweep of Toronto in the wild-card round to win a playoff series for the first time in 21 years.

The Twins had excellent chances early but were unable to push across any runs against Verlander.

“He’s a Hall of Fame pitcher for a reason,” Correa said. “Even though he doesn’t have his good stuff, he knows how to get people out. He got out of some key spots in the first three innings and they came out with the win because he figured it out and then he cruised through the last two or three.”

José Abreu‘s RBI single made it 4-0 in the fifth. Chas McCormick singled with two outs to send another run home.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Walker back in Phils’ rotation after Abel demoted

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Walker back in Phils' rotation after Abel demoted

PHILADELPHIA — Mick Abel couldn’t sustain his sublime major league debut and is headed to the minors.

Taijuan Walker is back in Philadelphia’s rotation. And anticipation that prized prospect Andrew Painter could be headed to the Phillies will stretch past the All-Star break.

Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez are about the only sure things this year in Philadelphia’s rotation.

The Phillies demoted Abel, the rookie right-hander who has struggled since he struck out nine in his major league debut, to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies also recalled reliever Seth Johnson from Lehigh Valley ahead of Friday’s loss to Cincinnati.

The 23-year-old Abel made six starts for the Phillies and went 2-2 with 5.04 ERA with 21 strikeouts and nine walks.

“Mick needed to go down and breathe a little bit,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Just get a little reset. It’s not uncommon.”

A 6-foot-5 right-hander selected 15th overall by the Phillies in the 2020 amateur draft, Abel dazzled against Pittsburgh in May when his nine strikeouts tied a Phillies high for a debut, set by Curt Simmons against the New York Giants on Sept. 28, 1947.

Abel hasn’t pitched beyond the fifth inning in any of his last four starts and was rocked for five runs in 1⅔ innings Wednesday against San Diego.

Abel was 3-12 with a 6.46 ERA last year for Lehigh Valley, walking 78 in 108⅔ innings. He improved to 5-2 with a 2.53 ERA in eight minor league starts this year, walking 19 in 46⅓ innings.

“This guy’s had a really good year,” Thomson said. “His poise, his composure is outstanding. He’s really grown. We just need to get back to that. Just attack the zone and get through adversity.”

The Phillies will give Walker another start in Abel’s place against San Francisco. Walker has bounced between the rotation and the bullpen over the past two seasons. He has made eight starts with 11 relief appearances this season and is 3-5 with one save and a 3.64 ERA.

Thomson had said he wanted to give Walker an extended look in the bullpen. Abel’s struggles instead forced Walker — in the third year of a four-year, $72-million contract — back to the rotation. For now.

“He always considers himself a starter and ultimately wants to start,” Thomson said. “He’ll do anything for the ballclub, because he’s that type of guy, but I think he’s generally happy he’s going to go back into a normal routine, normal for him, anyway.”

Wheeler, Suárez and Sánchez have been lights-out in the rotation this year and helped lead the Phillies into first place in the NL East. Jesús Luzardo was a pleasant early season surprise but has struggled over the past two months and gave up six runs in two-plus innings in Friday’s 9-6 loss to the Reds.

“I still have all the confidence in the world in Luzardo,” Thomson said. “Everybody’s going to have bad outings here and there. I think we’re still fine.”

Thomson said he had not made a final decision on who will be the fifth starter after the All-Star break. Painter has two more scheduled starts in Triple-A before the MLB All-Star break and could earn a spot in the rotation. The 22-year-old will not pitch in the All-Star Futures Game as part of the plan to keep him on a hopeful path to the rotation.

Painter hurt an elbow during spring training in 2023 and had Tommy John surgery later that year. He was the 13th overall pick in the 2021 amateur draft and signed for a $3.9 million bonus.

Because of the All-Star break and a quirk in the schedule that has them off on all five Thursdays in July, the Phillies won’t even need a fifth starter after next week until July 22.

Aaron Nola could be back by August as he works his way back from a rib injury. Nola will spend the All-Star break rehabbing in Florida and needs one or two minor league starts before he can rejoin the rotation.

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Cubs’ Taillon (calf) to miss more than month

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Cubs' Taillon (calf) to miss more than month

CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs righty Jameson Taillon was placed on the injured list on Friday with a right calf strain, the team announced before its game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s expected to miss “more than a month,” according to manager Craig Counsell.

Taillon, 33, injured his calf on his last wind sprint after a bullpen session on Thursday.

“He’s going to miss a pretty significant amount of time,” Counsell said.

Taillon was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 17 starts for the Cubs this season who just got lefty Shota Imanaga back from a hamstring injury. Now they’ll have to navigate at least the rest of this month without one of their other key starters.

“There’s a little room for us to be flexible right now,” Counsell said citing the upcoming All-Star break. “We’ll use that to our advantage and we’ll go from there.”

The team recalled left-hander Jordan Wicks to take Taillon’s spot on the roster, though he won’t go directly into the rotation. Instead, the Cubs will throw a bullpen game on Saturday against the Cardinals and “go from there,” according to Counsell.

Wicks, 25, went 1-3 with one save, a 4.06 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 12 appearances (11 starts) with Triple-A Iowa this season. In his past five starts dating to May 18, he posted a 1.65 ERA with 20 strikeouts, compared to just three walks, a 0.86 WHIP and a .186 opponent batting average.

The team might also consider a bigger role for righty Chris Flexen who has been fantastic for them out of the bullpen. Flexen, 31, has a 0.62 ERA in 16 games, including a four inning stint late last month.

“He’s a candidate to be stretched out for sure,” Counsell said. “He’s prepared to do a little bit more.”

Cubs brass have already stated they are looking for starting pitching before the trade deadline later this month. Counsell was asked if Taillon’s injury increases that need. He didn’t take the bait.

“The trade deadline isn’t until July 31,” he said. “I’m focused on the next week or 10 games before the All-Star break.”

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Guardians OF Thomas reinjures foot, exits game

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Guardians OF Thomas reinjures foot, exits game

CLEVELAND — Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas left during the sixth inning of Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers due to mild plantar fascia symptoms with his right foot.

Thomas missed 11 games in late May and early June because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He is batting .160 this season and .197 (13-for-66) since coming off the injured list on June 9. He does have four homers in his past 10 games.

“We think he’s good. The plantar fasciitis flared up a little bit again and I just didn’t like the way he looked running around the outfield. So rather than take a chance, I got him out of there,” manager Stephen Vogt said after the 2-1 loss to the Tigers.

Thomas also missed five weeks due to a right wrist bone bruise after getting hit by a pitch during the April 8 home opener against the Chicago White Sox.

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