Houston takes another close one in our simulation, with Justin Verlander striking out 8 in a 3-2 victory.

Corey Seager put L.A. ahead 1-0 in the 1st on a solo homer. Verlander walked a pair of men but retired Joc Pederson on a fly out to center to minimize the damage.

In the 3rd, Houston went ahead 2-1 on a two-run double by Alex Bregman off of Rich Hill.

Los Angeles came right back in the bottom of the inning, as Chris Taylor led off with a double and later scored on a two-out RBI single by Yasiel Puig.

In the 6th, Bregman was at it again, leading off with a walk, stealing second, moving to third on a Jose Altuve single, then scoring on Carlos Correa’s fly out to the wall in left.

That sacrifice fly proved to be the game-winner, as Chris Devenski and Ken Giles finished the game off with 3 shutout innings.

Through two games, Altuve and Marwin Gonzalez are each batting 4-for-8.

For Los Angeles, Justin Turner has reached base in 5 of his 8 plate appearances.

The Series heads to Houston now with the home team comfortably ahead two games to none.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H R
Houston 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 – 3 8 0
Los Angeles 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 5 0

Win: Verlander (1-0)
Save: Giles (2)
Loss: Hill (0-1)

2B: Verlander (1st), Bregman (1st), Gonzalez (1st), C. Taylor (1st)
3B: none
HR: C. Seager (1st)
RBI: Bregman 2 (2), Correa (1), C. Seager (1), Puig (1)