Houston Astros veteran pitcher Justin Verlander joins top-10 all-time MLB strikeout list

It has been almost two decades since Justin Verlander made his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers in July 2005. Despite being 41, Verlander still pitches at an elite level, and his record this season (2-2, 3.60 ERA) is a testament to that.

He's one of the few remaining active pitchers, along with Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer, who will surely have their names in Cooperstown one day. On Friday, he added another milestone to his name.

Entering the game against the Oakland Athletics, Justin Verlander was three strikeouts shy of passing Greg Maddux (3,371 Ks) for 10th on the all-time strikeout leaderboard list. He achieved the milestone in the second innings when he struck out Abraham Toro for the second time in the game, eclipsing Maddux with No. 3,372.

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All-time strikeout list and which other active pitcher is close to Justin Verlander's Ks

Verlander has already passed Scherzer (3,367) in his last start, but he will look forward to chasing down Walter Johnson's 3,515 next.

The all-time top 10 strikeout list in the MLB is as follows:

1. Nolan Ryan: 5,714
2. Randy Johnson: 4,875
3. Roger Clemens: 4,672
4. Steve Carlton: 4,136
5. Bert Blyleven: 3,701
6. Tom Seaver: 3,640
7. Don Sutton: 3,574
8. Gaylord Perry: 3,534
9. Walter Johnson: 3,515
10. Justin Verlander: 3,377 (including Friday's start, where he struck out nine)

There are two active pitchers who may catch up with Verlander in the near future. One is Max Scherzer, who is at 3,367, while the other is the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw, who is at 2,944.

With Scherzer and Kershaw both injury-prone at this stage of their careers, expect Verlander to stay up there for a while.

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Another quality start from Justin Verlander

MLB: Milwaukee Brewers at Houston Astros

On Friday, Verlander was lights-out against the Athletics. He threw six innings, allowing eight hits and one earned run while striking out nine. After this outing, the Astros pitcher improved his season ERA to 3.60.

At the time of this writing, the Astros are leading 6-3, heading to the top of the eighth innings. In the top of the fourth, Jake Meyers hit a three-run home run.