Justin Verlander Narrowly Misses Third Career No-Hitter for Detroit Tigers

By Matt Snyder | Aug 26, 2015

Justin Verlander, owner of two previous no-hitters, walked out to the mound in the ninth inning at Comerica Park on Wednesday night looking to complete his third such feat as a member of the Detroit Tigers.

Verlander had cruised through the first eight innings — needing only 100 pitches — with two walks being his only blemishes on the evening. Both base runners were erased on double plays, so Verlander had faced the minimum 24 batters with the bottom of the order due up. He had racked up eight strikeouts and dialed his fastball up to 97 mph.

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Unfortunately the no-hit bid was spoiled by the first batter of the inning. Chris Iannetta, sitting on a 2-2 count, lined a double down the line that landed directly on the chalk for a double. It was just inches from being a foul ball.

Verlander was able to complete the one-hit shutout with a strikeout, pop out, and flyout to end the 5-0 win for the Tigers. The crowd roared in appreciation for the effort.

Verlander owned the last two Tigers no-hitters, the only two since Jack Morris‘ in 1984. His first came in a 2007 home game against the Milwaukee Brewers (12 SO, 4 BB, 112 pitches). His second occurred in 2011 against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre (4 SO, 1 BB, 108 pitches).

Verlander has been his vintage self for more than a month now. Consider the following tweet by this post’s very good looking author.

Verlander has a 1.44 ERA in his last 50 innings.
— Matt Snyder (@snyder_matthew) August 27, 2015

That is not the worst thing in the world to see. A dominating Verlander bodes well for 2016 and beyond, even if this season is already lost.

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