JB Highlight Reel: Justin Verlander Allows Four Home Runs in Loss

Astros 1, Mariners 6

Justin Verlander has been great this year, but tonight was not his night. The Astros ace gave up four runs in the bottom of the first inning, with youngsters Julio Rodriguez and Kyle Lewis each taking the future Hall of Famer deep.

Verlander wasn’t done getting hurt by the longball, as he would give up two more home runs in his six innings pitched. First it was Ty France in the third.

Next it was Taylor Trammell in the sixth, hitting his first of the season.

Coming into the night, Verlander had allowed four home runs across his first eight starts. Four home runs allowed tonight nearly doubled his season ERA from 1.22 to 2.03.

Yankees 2, Rays 0

Jameson Taillon ensured that there would be very little highlights in this game, as he completely blanked the Tampa Bay Rays. Taillon allowed just two hits over eight scoreless innings pitched.

Two home runs in the fourth inning proved to be the difference in the game, with one of them coming from the newest Yankee, a mustached Matt Carpenter.

Phillies 6, Mets 8

The New York Mets jumped all over the Phillies in this one. Some poor defense allowed them to score three runs in the first, then Pete Alonso gave them a commanding lead with his 12th home run of the season in the bottom of the third.

Alonso would go on to pick up another RBI in the fourth, his fourth of the game to increase his season total to 45. The RBI double came after Francisco Lindor had already driven in a run in the same inning, improving the Mets lead to 7-0.

Philly came roaring back in the top of the sixth inning, putting up a six-spot to get within one. Their rally was capped by backup catcher Garrett Stubbs, who blasted a three-run homer.

New York held on from there, tacking on an insurance run for closer Edwin Diaz, who notched his 11th save of the season.

Orioles 12, Red Sox 8

The Baltimore Orioles are playing some great baseball right now. They might be 5-5 in their last 10, but it’s a marked improvement to the 14-23 start they got off to this year.

A lot of scoring in this game, so we will pick things up in the top of the seventh inning, when the Orioles were trailing 8-2. What followed was a 10-run eruption for an amazing comeback victory.

Jorge Mateo cut into the lead first with a three-run homer in the top of seventh.

Austin Hays went yard next, blasting a two-run shot in the eighth to cut the deficit to one.

Ramon Urias tied the game with an RBI single in the eighth, then in ninth, the Orioles led things off with three-consecutive hits which gave them their first lead of the game. Baltimore ended up adding three more runs to make if four scored in the ninth and finished a shocking 12-8 victory on the road.

Marlins 4, Braves 6

Neither team scored until the bottom of the fifth, when Austin Riley sparked a rally with a leadoff homer.

A pair of doubles by catchers Travis d’Arnaud and William Contreras added another run, then Contreras scored on an RBI single by Travis Demeritte. Atlanta’s 3-0 lead would not last long though, as the Marlins got four runs in their next trip to the plate, thanks to the longball.

Miami’s bullpen could not hold their late lead though, as the Braves got late RBI doubles by Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies in the seventh to score three runs and win the game.

Royals 7, Twins 10

This game was all tied up at four runs apiece when Carlos Correa came up to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning. He broke that tie though and the Twins never looked back.

Minnesota scored another run in the fourth to take a two-run lead, which was cut in half in the seventh on rookie Bobby Witt Jr.’s sixth career home run.

The Royals would not get any closer than that, as the Twins scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to ultimately run away with this one.

Brewers 2, Cardinals 4

Paul Goldschmidt continues to rake in 2022, getting the Cardinals going with his ninth home run of the season.

That would be the only scoring from either side until the bottom of the seventh, when Edmundo Sosa added an insurance run with an RBI triple. Sosa then scored on a fielder’s choice, giving St. Louis a 4-0 lead.

Milwaukee was able to avoid the shutout when Keston Hiura homered in the ninth, but it was too little too late.

Giants 1, Reds 5

Carlos Rodon has been an early-season favorite to win the NL Cy Young, but that took a bit of a hit on Friday night as he gave up three runs to the Reds, pushing his season ERA to 3.60.

Brandon Drury homered off Rodon, increasing his team-lead with his eighth blast of the season.

The Giants scored their only run when Joc Pederson got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, but the Reds kept things one-sided by scoring two more in the bottom half to increase their lead to the eventual final score of 5-1.

Pirates 3, Padres 4

It was all Pirates early, as they scored the game’s first three runs.

Bryan Reynolds opened it up with a home run in the top of the first.

Diego Castillo then added to the Pirates lead in the fourth, driving in two with a double.

Luke Voit has struggled so far in his first season with the Padres, but on Friday night he was the hero. The big slugger tied the game with a single swing, hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Pirates walked Manny Machado to lead off the frame, then gave up a single to Eric Hosmer to put the winning run 90 feet away. Wil Myers cashed in that game-winning run with a single of his own and the Padres went on to win their 29th game of the season.

Rangers 8, Athletics 5

The Texas Rangers had an early 2-0 lead that was completely erased in the bottom of the third inning, when the Athletics piled on five runs against Rangers starter Jon Gray. The five-run rally was capped by back-to-back home runs from Sean Murphy and Chad Pinder.

That rally representing all of Oakland’s offense for the night, as they only had one hit outside of that third inning. Meanwhile the Rangers offense got going late, allowing them to steal this one back from the A’s.

Texas strung together three consecutive hits in the seventh, scoring two runs to cut the A’s lead to 5-4. Adolis Garcia then tied it in the eighth with an RBI double.

In the ninth, the Rangers had two on and two out, when Andy Ibanez broke the tie with an RBI single.

Marcus Semien added another run, driving in Ibanez with a single of his own and the Rangers were able to seal the victory.

After a dreadful start this season where the Rangers went 7-14, they have now won 14 of their 23 games in May, improving their record to 21-23. A sweep this weekend would get them back to .500.

Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 4

Madison Bumgarner had a rough night, giving up five runs on seven hits across his six innings pitched. The left-hander gave up back-to-back home runs in the second, which resulted in four of the five runs he allowed.

The D-Backs got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, but Trea Turner got it back in the next half, hitting his fourth home run of the year.

Turner tacked on another run with an RBI single in the seventh, giving the Dodgers the commanding 6-1 lead. Arizona scored three late runs, but ultimately could not climb out of the five-run hole.

We have a full slate of game’s on Saturday, with a pair of doubleheaders pushing the total to 17 games on the schedule. Make sure you check back for tomorrow’s highlight reel, where we will recap all the action.