The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers are currently playing a crucial series.
Besides being the Battle of Texas, only one small game separates the two teams, with the Astros having the advantage and ending up tied for the top of the American League West Division with the Seattle Mariners.
But it goes beyond that. It is that in the last meeting of the series tomorrow (Wednesday), the former teammates at the New York Mets and the Detroit Tigers, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, will face each other on the mound.
If you had told me at the beginning of this campaign that it would have been possible, I would probably have politely called you crazy.
But we are now there. And both gunners live for that kind of moment.
The only thing that could have prevented this duel would have been the state of health of Scherzer, who had a stiffness in the forearm after his departure last Friday.
But with the confirmation that he will be the starting pitcher tomorrow, it looks like it won’t hurt him too much.
And Verlander had been seeing the clash of the Titans coming for some time.
It was kind of like we all knew it was going to happen, you know.
While Scherzer was the Rangers’ primary target at the trade deadline, Verlander was the Astros’.
Scherzer is three wins against one loss with a 2.21 average in six starts since joining the Rangers uniform. The right-hander is eleven strikeouts away from ranking in the top 10 all-time for career strikeouts.
Verlander was just as effective with the Astros as Scherzer was with the Rangers, going 4-2 in six starts and striking out 32 in 35 innings.
This will therefore give rise to an epic duel starting at 8:05 p.m. tomorrow, Quebec time.
