Tigers P Verlander Throws Second Career No-Hitter; takes Perfect Game into 8th inning; Tigers beat Blue Jays 9-0

By Ray Bennett
Saturday May 7, 2011

At the end of seven innings in Toronto, the fans in attendance at Rogers Centre had a feeling that something big was going to happen. The man who was pitching for the visiting team missed a big career achievement. However, he made up for it with achieving an even bigger feat.

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander threw his second career no-hitter in a 9-0 victory Saturday over the Toronto Blue Jays. The no-hitter is the seventh in the Detroit Tigers 100+ year history. Verlander also became the second Tiger to pitch multiple no-hitters, joining Virgil Trucks and his two gems back in 1952.

Verlander had chance to pitch the first Perfect Game in team history. After retiring the first 22 batters in the game with one out in the eighth inning, Verlander faced off against Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia. The at-bat went was full of foul tips and outside pitches. On the twelfth pitch of the at-bat, Verlander threw a 100 MPH fastball on the outside for ball four, walking Arencibia and breaking up the perfect game after seven-and-a-third innings pitched.

The next batter Verlander faced was Edwin Encarnacion. On a one-one pitch, Encarnacion grounded out into a six-four-three double play to end the inning, keeping the no-hitter in tact.

Entering the bottom of the ninth, Verlander got David Cooper to pop out to Tigers second baseman Scott Sizemore for the first out. The next batter John McDonald grounded out to Sizemore for the second out. The next Blue Jay at the plate was right fielder Rajai Davis. On a two-two count in the at-bat, Davis swung and missed at a fastball, capping off the second no-hitter in Verlander's career.

When he pitched his first no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 12, 2007, Verlander struck out 12 batters. In Saturday's no-hitter, he only managed to record four strikeouts. This is the second no-hitter of the week, with the first being thrown by Francisco Liriano of the Tigers' division rival Minnesota Twins on Tuesday. Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo had a no-hitter going into the eighth in Saturday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals, until it was broken up by St. Louis third baseman Daniel Descalso.

Verlander had a lot of help from his teammates on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. In the top of the third, facing Blue Jays ace Ricky Romero, Sizemore walked with the bases loaded to score catcher Alex Avila. With Magglio Ordonez at the plate, Romero threw a wild pitch that scored Tigers 3B Brandon Inge. Later in the at-bat, Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson, who went 3-5 with a double in the game, scored on an Ordonez ground out.

In the top of the fourth, Tigers Shortstop Jhonny Peralta hit his first home run of the season by hitting a pitch to deep left field. After a Ryan Raburn double, Avila homered to deep right, his sixth of the season, increasing the Tigers lead to 5-0. Romero left after giving up the home run, pitching only three-and-one-third-innings.

The Tigers increased the lead to six with a Victor Martinez RBI Single that scored Miguel Cabrera. In the bottom half of the inning, Verlander faced Encarnacion, who hit the ball off of Verlander's glove. Verlander then managed to get the ball and throw to Cabrera in time for the final out of the inning. Cabrera made another great defensive play by catching a liner with two outs in the sixth to preserve the then perfect game-bid.

The Tigers added two more runs in the top of the ninth. After Blue Jays reliever Casey Janssen walked the bases loaded, Octavio Dotel came in for him and gave up RBI Singles to Martinez and Peralta, making the score 9-0.

Verlander, who brought his 2011 season record to 3-3 with the victory, also becomes the 27th pitcher in Major League history to pitch multiple no-hitters. The record for the most no-hitters ever thrown by one pitcher is held by Baseball Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan, who pitched seven no-hitters with four different teams in his 26 year Major League career. Ryan is the current co-owner of the Texas Rangers, one of the teams he played for in his career.

The Tigers win brings their overall record on the 2011 season to 16-18. The Blue Jays loss drops them to 15-18. Both teams continue their four game series on Sunday. Brad Penny starts for Detroit, while rookie Kyle Drebek goes for Toronto.