Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander holds his nerves to subdue New York Yankees 5-4 – MLB Update
Although it was hard to keep up against the burly New York Yankees, the Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander carried his spell with the same spirit throughout the game and led his club into an important 5-4 win in the third outing of the playoffs series at Comerica
Park in Michigan on Monday, October 3.
Verlander was tagged for two destabilising runs just after the start of the game. It was a blow not only for the Tigers’ bull-pen and manager but also for the Tigers’ fans, who were watching their club after a long wait.
A park packed with more than its capacity was reverberating with the high shrieks and loud noises before the start of the outing but then there was suddenly silence. Derek Jeter made a single on the very first pitch of Verlander and then Curtis Granderson
made a devastating hit for an RBI generating triple. This made the Tigers’ camp a little worried. However, Verlander made a quick comeback taking Robinson Cano.
The tension of having Curtis Granderson on third base was still revolving around Verlander and it made him a little shaky as the Yankees’ home run giant, Alex Rodriguez chipped to short-stop, permitting Granderson to pile the second run.
The inning was a real nightmare for Verlander, but a prospect for AL Cy Young award showed his class and immediately stabilised to pitch the next innings to his brilliant talents. Verlander tossed perfect pitches in the second and the third inning to get
his momentum back and then held the Yankees scoreless until the seventh inning.
He allowed only three hits from the second to seventh inning, including two no-hitter innings. Despite making an exceptional comeback, Verlander again got into trouble in the seventh inning, when Brett Gardner touched him for an RBI double that tied the
game at 4-all.
Scorching heat was popping out from the centre of the plate while both managers were racing in their camps. A sudden roar enveloped the park when Delmon Young launched a one-run homer against the Yankees reliever Rafael Soriano to take the lead back in the
bottom of the seventh inning.
With a run at his back, Verlander now was at his best to shut-out the Yankees. Verlander threw and dominated the game with his no-hitter eighth to grab his first post-season win against the Yankees this season.
His eight innings lasted for 120 pitches and it was one of the toughest outings of the season, Verlander managed to restrict his hit count to just six while striking-out eleven batters to record his first win with a 5.00 ERA.
The Tigers’ camp will now be looking to bring Verlander back in a crucial last outing of the series on Wednesday night at the same venue.
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