Astros 1, Angels 0: Verlander twirls one-hit gem

The trade for Justin Verlander will go down as one of the biggest moves in Jeff Luhnow era and Houston Astros franchise history. Tuesday night, Verlander showed why.

The 6-5 righty held the Angels to just one hit while striking out nine and walking one. For good measure, he hit Mike Trout with a pitch and there was no relation.

Behind Verlander’s eight strong innings the Astros needed only one run to win the game, and they got that winning 1-0 to open the three game series with the Halos.

The Astros offense wasn’t able to solve Garrett Richards or four members of the Angels bullpen.

The Astros’ lone run was scored on Yuli Gurriel single up the middle. Carlos Correa scored on the play after leading off the inning with a single of his own.

The Astros would get one more extra-base during the game, a double from Brian McCann in the eighth. But couldn’t push him across for an insurance run.

Ken Giles picked up his 30th save of the season. He got some help from George Springer, who threw out Brandon Phillips attempting to stretch a single into a double.