Detroit Tigers’ ace Justin Verlander starts post season on winning note – MLB News
Tigers’ starting pitcher Justin Verlander started 2012 post season on a very bright note on Saturday, October 6 as he made quick work of Oakland’s batting line-up to set up an easy win for his side.
In a crucial Game 1 of American League Divisional Series, Verlander displayed some high quality throwing skills to dent Oakland’s confidence levels. The home crowd at the Comerica Park in Detroit greeted him with roar when stepped out of the dugout and headed
to the mound to start the proceedings.
The 2011 Pitching Triple Crown Award winner, Verlander matched his post season high with 11 strike-outs, making things look very simple on the mound.
Throughout his career, Verlander has shown his critics that he has the ability to up his game play under pressure and that is exactly what he did on Saturday evening to give Tigers a much needed victory.
Verlander looked a bit uncomfortable on the mound for his few innings, giving up a solo home-run to Coco Crisp in the first inning. However, he is one of those pitchers who get better as the game goes along. It will not be wrong to say that against Verlander,
most of the times the best scoring opportunities are early in the game.
"Early on was kind of a bit of a battle for me," Verlander said. "Just kind of found my rhythm a little bit and was able to hit my spots better, and I started throwing my breaking ball for strikes a little bit better, too."
"Early on, didn't have great control of any of my pitches," Verlander said. "But I was able to get myself out of jams that I created."
"He made a mistake to the first batter of the game, and then he didn't make another one all night," A's first baseman Brandon Moss said.
After he made a mistake to the first hitter in the game, Verlander did not allow the A’s to settle down, using his fastballs and curveballs efficiently. It will be interesting to see if Verlander can give similar results on his next playoffs’ starts to help
his team win the American League Championship.
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