Verlander loses 2-hitter, allowing 2 HRs to lowly Tigers

HOUSTON (AP) — Justin Verlander pitched a twohitter and lost, allowing homers to John Hicks and Ronny Rodriguez as the Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros 2-1 on Wednesday night. Hicks led off the ninth with a tiebreaking blast to leftcenter field off Verlander (15-5), who leads the majors in strikeouts with 239 but ranks second in homers allowed with 33. The veteran right-hander retired the fi…