Verlander credits Monterrey elevation, juiced balls for HR parade

The Houston Astros swept the two-game weekend series against the Los Angeles Angels in Monterrey, Mexico, but that doesn't mean it was easy sledding.

Astros ace Justin Verlander surrendered a trio of home runs over 6 1/3 innings on Sunday. Though Houston ultimately won, Verlander was ready for a slog - and he got one.

"I feel I handled it about as good as I could. I think the writing was on the wall," Verlander said about playing at homer-heavy Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey, via Alyson Footer of MLB.com. "This place is double the elevation of Chase Field, and we're not using a humidor, and the balls are already juiced, and I'm a 75 percent fly ball pitcher. I think that lines up for a tough day."

Under normal circumstances, Verlander said he felt neither of Jonathan Lucroy's homers would have held up - though he admitted David Fletcher's bomb to lead off the first was legitimate.

"He killed that ball," Verlander said.

The veteran hurler acknowledged the Angels were facing the exact same circumstances, he was just a little miffed he couldn't hold on for the quality start.

"I was kind of kicking myself in the butt on the last one. It kind of left a sour taste in my mouth ... I was squeaking out a pretty decent outing after really struggling early in a tough ballpark. I gave up another homer to miss out on a quality start and I was really grinding for it. It kind of pissed me off. But all said and done, we got a W."

To Verlander's credit, the Monterrey ballpark hasn't exactly played small. Twelve total home runs were hit between the teams over the two-day series. The Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals combined for nine long balls when the two squared off in Monterrey in mid-April.