Justin Verlander An Inch Away From History, But Still Vintage Verlander In One-Hitter
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
The winds in Detroit rippled into Comerica Park on Wednesday night at six miles per hour.
If they had whipped a little faster, if the hint of a storm had started moving in, maybe it would have happened.
Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander lost a no-hitter – what would have been the third of his career – when the Angels' Chris Iannetta dropped a hit directly onto the chalk of the third-base line in the ninth inning. Verlander had slashed his way through the minimum 24 batters in eight innings, and still, it was all zeroes on the Angels' half of the scoreboard.
"I felt good from the get-go really," Verlander said. "Not saying you think something like that's going to happen from the start, but I knew I felt good."
With no outs in the ninth, Verlander stepped up and cleared the dirt out of his way – left foot, swipe right, right foot, swipe left, it's always the same. He uncorked his 97 mph fastball, and Iannetta (batting .188 this year) made the kind of hard contact the Angels had been failing to make all night. A rocket to left field. Maybe foul. But then, that little puff of chalk.
Fair ball, but not a fair world.
"It's heartbreaking," said James McCann, Verlander's catcher. "That's literally as close as you can get – one hit that lands on the foul line. It's like having your heart ripped out there, being that close to a no-hitter."
After the sixth inning, fans started coming out of the luxury suites to stand outside and drink in the atmosphere. The crowd stopped grumbling when Detroit's offense stalled in the second half of the game, after Nick Castellanos, Miguel Cabrera and JD Martinez all hit early home runs to build the 5-0 lead that would stick as the final score.
Through six, Verlander had mowed his way through the softest part of Los Angeles' lineup. When he stepped back on the mound in the seventh, 31,938 stood with him.
He got through the top of the Angels' order with three strikeouts, fast and furiously thrown in the seventh. Albert Pujols went down swinging to end the inning, and fans reacted with more fervor than they had for the Tigers' earlier homers.
Homers sail over walls every day. But what Verlander was doing would have put him in the same company as Cy Young, Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Bob Feller and Larry Corcoran – the only pitchers to throw at least three no-hitters in their career.
What would have been Verlander's third would have been the sweetest, if not for that puff of chalk. After coming off the disabled list for the first time in his career, Verlander struggled early in the year.
"In the past, you know, obviously, not that it was ever easy, but I hadn't been through a tough time in my career yet," he said. "This has a special meaning because of the way the fans were treating me and reacting. … It really (gave) me goosebumps coming off the mound in the seventh."
Verlander finished his 21st career complete game, giving up two walks and one hit, and striking out nine. Out of his 112 pitches, 74 were strikes.
"It's always extremely disappointing when you get that far into a game with a no-hitter or a perfect game," said manager Brad Ausmus. "He was outstanding; he really was. Over his last seven or eight starts, he's kind of showed he's still got Justin Verlander inside of him. I think tonight was a little bit of an exclamation point."
