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For the first time in his professional career, Astros right-hander Justin Verlander pitched out of the bullpen Monday afternoon. Verlander, who never even pitched in relief in college, replaced Charlie Morton in the fifth inning of ALDS Game 4 against the Red Sox at Fenway Park (GameTracker).

And Andrew Benintendi, the very first batter Verlander faced as a reliever, took him yard. Benintendi walloped a go-ahead two-run home Monday to turn a 2-1 Astros lead into a 3-2 Red Sox lead. Here's the video:

Going into Monday's game, Verlander had made 46 career college starts, 22 career minor league starts, 385 career regular season starts, and 17 career postseason starts. That's 470 starts from 2002-17 with zero relief appearances.

Did that lack of bullpen experience -- Verlander entered Game 4 in the middle of an inning as well, he didn't start a clean inning -- hurt Verlander's performance? Hard to say. He was on short rest following his Game 1 start, and it's worth noting he pitched perfectly fine after the home run. It seems to me he simply hung a breaking ball.

Ace setup man Chris Devenski pitched in Games 1-3 of the ALDS, including allowing three runs in Game 3, which likely limited his Game 4 availability. Had Devenski been fresh and available, odds are he would've replaced Morton, not Verlander. 

With a short bullpen, Astros manager A.J. Hinch tried to improvise, and it took one batter for the decision to backfire. Verlander gave up the lead to the first batter he faced.

Dallas Keuchel will presumably get the start in Game 5 on normal rest, if necessary, now that Verlander pitched in Game 4.