Justin Verlander did not quite throw his 3rd career no-hitter, but he did pitch the Tigers past the Indians and into 1st place.
Orlando Cabrera's sharp single to center field in the top of the 8th ruined Verlander's bid to become only the 4th hurler in major league history to toss more than 2 no-nos. Verlander eventually settled for a complete game 2-hitter and a well-deserved victory.
Aided considerably by the Tribe defense, Detroit scored 3 runs in the 3rd. Cabrera's fielding error and Travis Buck's misplay of a fairly routine fly ball gave the Tigers a golden opportunity. And the Tigers capitalized. Miguel Cabrera and Alex Avila each contributed sacrifice flys, and Andy Dirks flaired a RBI single into shallow left-center. The Detroit offense had done its job, and now all eyes were focused squarely on Verlander.
The flame-throwing right-hander cruised through the 1st 7 frames before Cabrera's base-hit signaled the end of an historic evening. A few seconds after Cabrera's liner dropped in front of Austin Jackson, the Comerica Park crowd of 28,128 gave Verlander a standing ovation.
Once again, Justin Masterson did not receive any support, offensive or defensive. Masterson allowed 4 runs, only 2 of which were earned, in 6 1/3 innings, and his record sunk to 5-5. Masterson has not won a game since April 26th despite posting an earned run average of 3.69 during that span.
When Jackson robbed Shin-Soo Choo of a homer in the 2nd, it was evident that this would be Verlander's night.
 |
| For the 1st time since April 7th, Michael Brantley and the Indians are not atop the division |
No comments:
Post a Comment