Elvis Andrus hit an RBI double. On June 7, Verlander became the career active strikeout leader, passing Max Scherzer, after striking out twelve hitters over seven innings pitched in a 4–1 victory over the Mariners. Verlander also passed John Smoltz on the all-time strikeout list to move up to 17th all-time with his 3,085th strikeout. Verlander earned his ninth career selection to the All-Star Game. He struck out ten over six innings in a 5–0 win over the A's on July 16, amounting to 3,121 career strikeouts, and moving him past Curt Schilling (3,116) and Bob Gibson (3,117) for 14th place all time. As of the All-Star break, Verlander was 12–3, with a 1.89 ERA, a 0.878 WHIP and 108 strikeouts. Per STATS, LLC, he became the first pitcher in history to have reached or exceeded each of the following as of an All-Star break: 2.00 ERA, 12 wins, .800 winning percentage, .200 batting average against, 0.900 WHIP, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5.00. On July 29, he allowed one run in innings in an 11–1 defeat of the Mariners. The 240th win of Verlander's career, it moved him into a tie with Frank Tanana for 56th all-time. On August 4, Verlander reached 130 innings to actuate the player option for the 2023 season. On August 23, 2022, Verlander threw six hitless innings and struck out ten batters in a 4–2 win against the Minnesota Twins. In doing so, Verlander passed Pedro Martínez on the all-time strikeout list and overtook Scherzer again as the active career leader in strikeouts. Verlander left a start versus Baltimore after three innings on August 28 due to sudden right calf discomfort and was placed on the 15-day IL for what an MRI revealed to be a mild rupture of the muscle fascia. In his return to the mound on September 16, Verlander hurled five hitless innings against the Athletics to lead the Astros to a 5–0 victory and secure a sixth consecutive postseason berth. He walked one and struck out nine to extend their winning streak to six games. In his final start of the regular season on October 4, Verlander authored a 10-strikeout, no-hit performance over five innings as Houston cruised to a 10–0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. He passed Ferguson Jenkins and Scherzer again for 12th place on the all-time strikeout list and tied Jim Deshaies (1986) for an Astros franchise