Verlander Gets No Help
Justin Verlander is so dominating right now, he looks good even when he loses.
Verlander's seven-start winning streak, nine overall, ended Tuesday when his teammates couldn't score a run and he gave up one. The Angels held on for a 1-0 win.
"He's a tremendous pitcher on a tremendous run," manager Jim Leyland said. "That pretty much sums that up."
The run Los Angeles scored off him came through aggressive coaching at third base. Howie Kendrick singled with one out, then was running on the pitch Erik Aybar lined to right field for a double.
Kendrick was cruising full speed around third and was waved home when the Los Angeles third base coach saw Magglio Ordonez throw to second, and he easily beat the relay from Ryan Raburn.
But a measure of how improved Verlander is this season came in the fifth. He gave up two singles plus a walk to load the bases with nobody out.
A strikeout, a popup to shortstop and a lineout to center ended the threat and kept the deficit at one. Jhonny Peralta gave Verlander a big grin after catching the one-out popup. He's seen it before.
A couple years ago, Verlander would have tried to muscle up and throw as hard as he can, leading to more trouble.
Now Verlander mixes in sliders, curves or changeups in fastball counts, then will gear up to reach 100 mph with his fastball to hitters whom he thinks can be overcome with speed.
Two starts ago against Arizona, Verlander had runners on second and third with nobody out in a close game and struck out the side. Earlier in that game, Verlander had worked out of a second-and-third, one-out jam.
He'll still have a chance to be a 12-game winner before the All-Star break because he pitches Sunday in Kansas City.
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