In the world of sports, it is common for yesterday’s comrades to become today’s enemies.
Still, this confrontation is special and dramatic. Justin Verlander (40, Houston Astros) and Max Scherzer (39, Texas Rangers), right-handed aces representing the Major League, will face off for the first time in history.
It is at 9:05 a.m. on the 7th (Korean time) at Globe Life Field, Texas’ home stadium. In the final game of this three-game series, both teams faced off against veteran aces Verlander and Scherzer. This is the first time the two players meet as enemies.
As is widely known, the two worked together for a long time at the Detroit Tigers. Verlander, who is one year older, made his major league debut in 2005 and worked in Detroit for over 12 seasons until he was traded to Houston in late August 2017. Scherzer, who debuted with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008, was traded to Detroit in December 2009 and spent five seasons with Verlander until he signed a free agent contract with the Washington Nationals in late 2014 and left.
After Verlander won the AL Cy Young Award in 2011, Scherzer followed in his footsteps two years later in 2013 by receiving his first Cy Young Award. While the two led the starting mound with a one-two punch, Detroit showed off its appearance as a strong team by advancing to the postseason for four consecutive seasons from 2011 to 2014. In 2012, they also led the team to a World Series runner-up finish.먹튀검증
The two, who had been apart for a while, reunited this season with the New York Mets. When Scherzer signed a free agent contract last year after playing for the Washington and LA Dodgers and moved to the Mets, Verlander left Houston this year, a year later, and also became a free agent and wore a Mets uniform.
However, his run with the Mets ended four months after the season began. The Mets announced that they would give up on the postseason and traded Scherzer to Texas and Verlander to Houston. Of course, the trade was carried out with the consent of both players. That was late July and early August.
And as the two teams belonging to the same AL West division played a three-game series, the match between the two veteran aces came to fruition.
Regarding his relationship with Scherzer, Verlander recently told ESPN: “We’re looking at each other through a different lens now. We’re on different paths, but we each know more than one way to be successful. Max. “I can’t say anything for them. We respect each other’s thoughts and talk about it. We also talk about how we can help each other,” he said.
“I think it will be a fun match,” Scherzer said. “It will be my first time playing against Verlander. Throughout my career, I have played against some of the best players alive and played with some of the best players alive. I also played on the same team with Verlander. “It’s interesting because now we meet each other as enemies and get on the mound.”
The reason why the match between the two players is so interesting is because the outcome of the game is directly related to the postseason fate of the two teams. As of the 6th, Houston is in first place in the AL West with 79 wins and 61 losses. Recently, they surpassed the Seattle Mariners and rose to first place. On the other hand, Texas ranked first in the district throughout the season, but recently suffered a downward trend and fell to third place. Texas is in an urgent situation in the AL wild card rankings as it suffered a 1-14 loss to Houston on this day and fell from 3rd to 4th, which is the postseason cutoff point.
Texas coach Bruce Bochy said, “I’ve said this many times, but I always watch great players play from a good position (dugout manager’s box). It’s fun to see matchups like this up close.
Houston coach Dusty Baker said, “I watch the game as a coach, not as a spectator. They are different, but they are similar in their competitive spirit and seriousness.”
This season, Verlander has 10 wins and 7 losses in 22 games, with an ERA of 3.34. With 113 strikeouts, Scherzer has 12 wins, 5 losses, an ERA of 3.55, and 168 strikeouts in 25 games.
In his career, Verlander had 254 wins, 140 losses, an ERA of 3.24, and 3,311 strikeouts, and Scherzer had 213 wins, 107 losses, an ERA of 3.13, and 3,361 strikeouts. Both won the Cy Young Award three times.