Verlander, Dyson In Agreement About Perfect-Game Busting Bunt
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
Did Jarrod Dyson break "The Code?"
With Justin Verlander working on a perfect game in the sixth inning on Wednesday night and the Tigers leading the Mariners 4-0, Dyson laid down a bunt single to end the pitcher's pursuit of history.
Was this in violation of baseball's unwritten rulebook?
"I'm sure [Verlander didn't] like it," Dyson told MLB.com. "But at the same time, he was comfortable on the mound. He about blew our whole lineup away. Right there, we aren't going to keep swinging like that. I'm going to play my game, so I tried to lay down a bunt and get him off the mound."
Verlander looked frustrated at the time, possibly throwing a glare in Dyson's direction, but said afterward he didn't have a problem with it.
"It was a perfect bunt. That's part of his game. I don't think it was quite too late, given the situation, to bunt, especially being as how that's a major part of what he does. I really didn't have any issues with it. It's not like I got upset about it," Verlander said.
Dyson's bunt, with one out in the sixth, sparked a three-run Mariners' rally and helped them turn a 4-0 deficit into a 7-5 win. Up to that point, Verlander had retired the first 16 batters of the game, 10 of them on strikeouts.
"Against a guy pitching like that, four runs feels like a lot. But when Dyson got on, we found a way to get it done after that," said Nelson Cruz. "We were talking about just needing to get a guy on to change the way he was pitching."
Verlander was knocked out of the game five batters later. He finished with a line of 5 2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB and 11 K on 110 pitches.
Dyson is tied for the major-league lead with six bunt hits this season.
