Justin Verlander hopes to add a career first: a victory in a World Series game

HOUSTON — Justin Verlander has won two American League Cy Young Awards in what is sure to be a Hall of Fame career, and he’s likely to add a third next month when the award is announced.

The righthander has logged just under 3,200 career innings (3,163), ranks 12th on the career list in strikeouts (3,198), is the active leader in wins (244-133 with a 3.24 ERA in 17 seasons), is a nine-time All-Star and has been a part of one World Series-winning team.

It is a resume few pitchers of the last 50 years can match, but there is one glaring element missing..

Remarkably, Verlander has never won a World Series game.

That is something he  hopes to change Friday night when he takes the mound against Phillies righthander Aaron Nola in Game 1 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park .

“That would be wonderful,” Verlander, 39, said Thursday before invoking the name of his manager, 73-year-old Dusty Baker, who —  for all he’s accomplished in the dugout in his career — has never won a World Series. “I think Dusty and I both would like to check off my first World Series win, his first World Series championship. I think that would be a wonderful thing for us to have on our career list.”

Verlander, who is 15-11 with a 3.55 ERA in 33 career postseason outings but is 0-6 with a 5.68 ERA in seven World Series starts, made it clear that it isn’t something he obsesses about. Given the way he vacillated in answering a question about it, though, it’s equally clear he realizes his resume isn’t quite complete.

“My goal's not to go out there and win a baseball game,” said Verlander, who appeared in the 2006 and 2012 World Series with the Tigers and the 2017 and 2019 Series with the Astros (he was recovering from Tommy John surgery when Houston lost to Atlanta in the 2021 World Series). “There's been games in the World Series that I [didn’t] deserve a win. There's been games that I thought I pitched well enough where we could get a win and it just didn't work out. At this point in the season, personal goals like that just don't matter. Try to win the game however you can. I was one of the happiest people in the world [after] Game 1 [of this year’s Division Series] against Seattle when we won that game. I pitched like crap [six runs and 10 hits in four innings], but we won. It doesn't matter anymore. It would be nice, though.”

Verlander, who beat the Yankees in Game 1 of this year’s American League Championship Series, allowing one run and three hits with 11 strikeouts in six innings in a 4-2 victory, is coming off a regular season in which he went 18-4 with an MLB-leading 1.75 ERA in 28 starts.

Impressive numbers for a pitcher of any age, let alone one who will turn 40 in February.

“He's had an unbelievable career,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.  “To do what he's doing at his age and how many seasons he's had, how many games he's pitched, it's incredible. He must stay in tremendous shape. It's the big fastball, it's the big curveball, it's the poise he has on the mound and the competitive nature that he has that has kept him going. I know he's on the other club, but I have a ton of respect for just what he's done in his career.”

As does Nola, 29, coming off a fairly impressive season of his own (11-13 but with a 3.25 ERA in 32 starts).

“That's a really good pitcher right there,” said Nola, who is 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA in three starts this postseason. “He's been doing it for a very long time. He's steady. He's always consistent. I've probably only seen him in person four or five times pitch, being on the other side. But I know he's such a competitor. He's been doing it for so long and it's really impressive. He's having a heck of a year this year. It's cool to watch him.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.