In a career with so many accomplishments, Justin Verlander's success this season after missing almost two years with an elbow injury has been particularly sweet. "Of course," the Houston Astros right-hander said when asked if his stellar start means a lot to him. "Yeah, absolutely. We've talked about it a lot, just so much hard work since the since the surgery and it's nice to see it pay off and hopefully — knock on wood — it continues." Verlander got his 11th win, Yordan Alvarez hit his 26th homer and the Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 on Thursday to take the series 3-1. read more https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=401355468
