Justin Verlander continues his poor run at Progressive Field – MLB Update
Justin Verlander took his sixth loss of the season as Detroit Tigers suffered a humiliating 3-5 loss against their arch rivals Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday, July 26 in the finale of their three match series of the
2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
"Give them credit," Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland said. "They had a great game plan. It looked like they were going to ambush the first-pitch fastball and they never got off it."
Verlander looked very comfortable on the mound early on. However, as the game progressed, he lost control over his fastballs and curveballs. The Indians were prepared as they made the Tigers’ ace pay the ultimate price for his errors on Thursday evening.
With their loss against Cleveland, Jim Leyland and company have dropped a half game behind the leading Chicago White Sox on American League Central Division standings.
Verlander, who had lost only once in his last seven outings since June 14, had allowed only three hits before the Indians’ offensive outburst.
It was Verlander’s 63rd consecutive start and credit should be given to him for his consistency. Carlos Santana made the most of available opportunities for the Indians as he stunned the Tigers’ ace by dispatching a fastball deep into the stands for a home-run.
"I threw pitches in homer-happy areas to lead off the inning and they hit 'em," Verlander said in a post game interview.
"I didn't make a smart pitch to Lopez and then a couple of non hard-hit balls," Verlander further added. "I can't complain about the ones that weren't hard-hit. I put myself in that situation to begin with."
Progressive Field has always proved to be a difficult place for Verlander to pitch. In his last 14 starts against Cleveland, he is 9-3. However, his poor outing on Thursday damaged his overall record to 13-13, with just 10 of those defeats coming in Cleveland.
Leyland will be of course a bit disappointed with Verlander’s effort but he will be expecting the All Star starter to bounce back strongly on his next appearance.
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