Justin Verlander made Comerica Park history – with a big assist from his shortstop.
Verlander pitched the first no-hitter at the ballpark, leading Detroit over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 Tuesday night.
“It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said.
The 2006 AL Rookie of the Year came back with the game of his career, striking out 12. He benefited from several stellar defensive plays, the best by Neifi Perez, who turned a possible single up the middle in the eighth into an inning-ending double play.
“About the fifth or sixth you can’t help but think about it a little,” Verlander said. “Everyone kept giving me high-fives and nobody came and sat next to me.”
In other interleague games, it was: Florida 3, Cleveland 0; Philadelphia 6, Chicago White Sox 3; Boston 2, Colorado 1; Tampa Bay 11, San Diego 4; Pittsburgh 7, Texas 5; Washington 7, Baltimore 4; Cincinnati 5, Los Angeles Angels 3; New York Yankees 4, Arizona 1; Houston 5, Oakland 4 in 11 innings; Minnesota 7, Atlanta 3; Kansas City 8, St. Louis 1; Seattle 5, Chicago Cubs 3 in 13 innings; and San Francisco 3, Toronto 2.
In the only NL game, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Mets 4-1.
The NL Central-leading Brewers didn’t have a chance against Verlander.
“We only hit four or five balls hard all night … that’s how dominant he was,” said Craig Counsell, twice called out on strikes.
Verlander (7-2) worked around four walks in the Tigers’ first no-hitter since Jack Morris in 1984.
The 24-year-old trotted to the mound for the ninth to a standing ovation from the crowd of 33,555. He struck out Craig Counsell and Tony Graffanino before getting J.J. Hardy to fly out to the warning track in right field.
Verlander didn’t even see the ball settle into Magglio Ordonez’s glove.
“I wanted to watch the catch, but Pudge was yelling in my ear,” he said.
Catcher Ivan Rodriguez was already at the mound and hugged Verlander as the pitcher wheeled around.
“I think I was more excited than he was,” Rodriguez said.
This was the first no-hitter in Detroit since Nolan Ryan of the Angels did it at Tiger Stadium in 1973. Comerica opened in 2000.
Milwaukee was last no-hit on April 27, 1994, by Scott Erickson at Minnesota. This was the third no-hitter since interleague play began – David Cone did it for the Yankees against Montreal and a set of Houston pitchers blanked the Yankees.
It was the second no-hitter of the season in the majors, with Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox doing it against the Texas Rangers on April 18.
Brandon Inge homered and drove in two runs. Jeff Suppan (7-7) took the loss.
Marlins 3, Indians 0
Scott Olsen (5-5) allowed three hits in seven innings, and Miguel Olivo’s three-run double in the seventh delivered the blow that sent the Indians’ Fausto Carmona (7-2) to his first loss in his last 11 starts.
Armando Benitez pitched a perfect eighth for the host Marlins, and Kevin Gregg finished it off for his 10th save in as many chances.
Phillies 7, White Sox 3
In Philadelphia, Chase Utley drove in four runs to help Cole Hamels become the National League’s first nine-game winner.
Hamels (9-2) allowed two runs and six hits and struck out eight in eight innings, outpitching Chicago’s Jose Contreras (4-7).
Red Sox 2, Rockies 1
In Boston, Tim Wakefield (6-7) pitched eight innings of four-hit ball, and David Ortiz’s double helped break an eighth-inning tie. Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 15th save.
Aaron Cook (4-3) allowed two runs and seven hits in 7 1-3 innings for the Rockies.
Devil Rays 11, Padres 4
Carlos Pena hit an eighth-inning grand slam and Delmon Young delivered a pair of run-scoring singles off Greg Maddux as the host Devil Rays pulled away against reliever Cla Meredith (2-4).
Casey Fossum (4-6) pitched one perfect inning in relief of Scott Kazmir for the victory.
Pirates 7, Rangers 5
Jose Bautista homered and had three hits as the host Pirates snapped a three-game losing streak. Xavier Nady and Adam LaRoche also homered for Pittsburgh, making a winner of Zach Duke (3-6). Matt Capps picked up his third save in four chances.
Kevin Millwood (2-6) allowed six runs – five earned – and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings.
Nationals 7, Orioles 4
Ryan Church hit the first of three home runs off Daniel Cabrera (5-7) for the host Nationals, who got another solid outing from reliever-turned-starter Micah Bowie (3-2).
Reds 5, Angels 3
In Cincinnati, Ken Griffey Jr.’s tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh inning helped the Reds survive an overpowering performance by Kelvim Escobar, who struck out a career-high 14 in six innings.
The Reds roughed up reliever Dustin Moseley (4-1), and Griffey’s fly to right off Darren Oliver snapped a 3-all tie. Jon Coutlangus (3-1) pitched a perfect inning in relief, and David Weathers got four outs for his 13th save.
Yankees 4, Diamondbacks 1
Chien-Ming Wang (6-4) outpitched Brandon Webb (6-4) in a marquee matchup at Yankee Stadium, and Bobby Abreu hit an early three-run homer to help New York win its seventh straight.
The Yankees won for the 10th time in 12 tries following a five-game skid, reaching .500 for the first time since they were 16-16 after beating Texas on May 9.
Astros 5, Athletics 4, 11 innings
Brad Ausmus drove in his fourth run of the night with the game-winning single in the 11th, and the host Astros overcame another blown save by Brad Lidge.
Lidge gave up a leadoff homer in the ninth to Mark Kotsay that sent the game to extra innings, where Adam Everett’s double in the 11th set up Ausmus’ single off Ron Flores (0-1).
Dave Borkowski (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings of relief after replacing Lidge.
Twins 7, Braves 3
In Minneapolis, Luis Castillo had three hits, drove in two runs and helped make a winner of rookie Kevin Slowey (2-0), who put up another solid outing.
Kyle Davies (3-5) gave up five runs and six hits in 3 2-3 innings for Atlanta, his shortest outing of the season.
Royals 8, Cardinals 1
Brian Bannister (3-3) won his third consecutive start with seven scoreless innings and Esteban German drove in three runs as the host Royals moved to 5-2 in interleague play.
Mark Teahen had an RBI triple in the first inning, doubled and scored in the second and singled home a run in the third. He keyed a five-run outburst in the first against Brad Thompson (4-2).
Mariners 5, Cubs 3, 13 innings
In Chicago, Willie Bloomquist singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the 13th inning.
The Mariners scored the winning run after Jose Vidro’s double with two outs. Will Ohman (0-4) walked Yuniesky Betancourt, Bloomquist singled to right and Vidro beat the throw to the plate.
Eric O’Flaherty (3-0) pitched 2 2-3 scoreless innings in relief. J.J. Putz pitched the 13th for his 19th save.
Giants 3, Blue Jays 2
Ryan Klesko drove in two runs to help Noah Lowry (6-5) end a three-start winless stretch.
A.J. Burnett (5-6) left in the fifth inning with a strained throwing shoulder. The Blue Jays right-hander allowed three runs, two earned, and six hits.
Giants slugger Barry Bonds went 2-for-2 with a double, single and his 23rd and 24th intentional walks of the year.
National League
Dodgers 4, Mets 1
Wilson Betemit, Matt Kemp, and winning pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo (1-1) homered off John Maine on three consecutive pitches, as the host Dodgers handed the slumping Mets their eighth loss in nine games.
Maine (6-4) allowed seven hits and four runs in 5 1-3 innings.
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