Justin Verlander Pitches Second No-Hitter
Another no-hitter in the majors.
Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander held the Toronto Blue Jays hitless in a 9-0 victory Saturday, four days after the Minnesota Twins' Francisco Liriano no-hit the Chicago White Sox.
It was the second no-hitter of Verlander's career. He also shut down the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007, a season after he was named AL Rookie of the Year.
Verlander had a perfect game going for 7 1/3 innings until J.P. Arencibia walked on a close pitch at the end of a 12-pitch at-bat. The following hitter, Edwin Encarnacion, bounced into a double-play, meaning Verlander still faced the minimum 24 batters through eight innings, and 27 for the game.
Rajai Davis struck out swinging, Verlander's fourth of the game, to complete the no-no. Verlander calmly celebrated -- after all, he's done this before -- just as he was getting swarmed by his teammates.
Earlier Saturday, the Milwaukee Brewers' Yovani Gallardo took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals before yielding a leadoff single to Daniel Descalso.
On Friday night, St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Jaime Garcia threw 7 1/3 perfect innings against the Brewers before settling for a two-hit shutout.
Also Friday, the Atlanta Braves' Derek Lowe pitched six no-hit innings against he Philadelphia Phillies before giving up two hits in the seventh and leaving with a blister in his right foot.
Six no-hitters, including two perfect games, were thrown last year.
Look for another no-hitter in the coming day, as thing like this seem to happen in "threes".