Justin Verlander flirted with a scoreless, hitless game in the Houston Astros' 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday at RingCentral Coliseum.

The 39-year-old veteran had only walked twice until the fourth A's batter to come to the plate in the seventh inning, Elvis Andrus, hit a double that allowed the crowd favorites to score their first point of the game.

Visibly disappointed to miss the opportunity to sign a fourth career game without a run or hit, Verlander then allowed Christian Bethancourt to kick the ball out of bounds.

The Athletics took the lead by two runs with two sets to go. The Astros, however, came back with a production of four runs in their ninth turn at bat.

Andrus helped the Oakland club close the gap to a single point afterwards, but Astros endgame specialist Ryan Pressly finished the job and signed his 10th save of 2022.