Tiger No-HItter

In the middle of an up and down season so far their now comes a bright spot for the Detroit Tigers in 2011.  Right hander Justin Verlander accomplished something that has only happened 7 times in Detroit Tiger history.    Justin recorded his 2nd No-Hitter of his 6 year career on Saturday May 7, 2011 at the Rogers Center in Toronto.   He just missed a perfect game with just one walk in the 8th inning.   He faced the mimimun batters (27) in his 9 innings while throwing just 108 pitches and 74 were for strikes.   Verlander got stronger as the game went on by throwing several pitches in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings at 100 mph.  

His first no-hitter was also the first at Comerica Park in June 2007 against the Milwaukee Brewers.   During the early part of the 2011 season Verlander has had a strong performance each time he has taken the mound.    His 2-3 record coming into the game was misleading because of the lack of run support by the Tigers.   Each start this season has seen Justin going at least 6 innings while recording at least 8 strikeouts per outing.    So it all came together this late afternoon game in Canada with the Tigers providing solid run support right from the start of the game. 

The ace of Tigers pitching staff constantly shows why he will have another solid season in 2011.    Being very competitive and having a strong work ethic one can see that Justin doesn't want to lose a game let alone come out of the game.    Verlander  has been around the 20 victory mark for 5 of his 6 seasons with the Tigers so far.   This will be the season that he will hit the 20 win mark.   One can now expect a run of victories for Justin to get him selected to the All-Star game like he has been in 3 out of the last 4 years.    Yes, I can see another No-HItter down the road for this hard throwing stud.    I don't think that he will approach the record 7 No-Hitters thrown by Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.   Things are now starting to heat up again for the Tigers with the Division favorites Minnesota Twins starting to struggle.    The Tigers are now on the road to Minnesota for a three game series and then return to Comerica Park,