SCOREBOARD
Thursday, June 14
Colorado at Boston (7:05 p.m. EDT). Josh Beckett looks to improve to 10-0 on the season for the Red Sox.
STARS
Tuesday
-Justin Verlander, Tigers, pitched a no-hitter and struck out a career-high 12 to lead Detroit over Milwaukee 4-0.
-Brad Ausmus, Astros, drove in four runs, including the game-winner in the 11th inning, to lift Houston over Oakland 5-4.
-Scott Olsen, Marlins, allowed three hits in seven innings and Florida beat Cleveland 3-0.
-Chase Utley, Phillies, homered and had four RBIs in Philadelphia’s 7-3 win over the Chicago White Sox.
-Brian Bannister, Royals, threw seven scoreless innings in Kansas City’s 8-1 win over St. Louis.
NO-NO
Justin Verlander pitched the first no-hitter in Comerica Park history, mixing 100 mph heat with crazy curveballs to lead the Detroit Tigers over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 on Tuesday. Verlander struck out a career-high 12, walked four and benefited from several stellar defensive plays in the Tigers’ first no-hitter since Jack Morris’ gem in 1984. 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.
YANKS HEATING UP
The New York Yankees beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 on Tuesday for their seventh consecutive victory. The Yankees (31-31) 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. It’s their first seven-game winning streak since a 10-game run in May 2005.
TRIPLE THREAT
Wilson Betemit, Matt Kemp, and winning pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo homered off John Maine on three consecutive pitches, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Mets 4-1 on Tuesday. The Mets hadn’t allowed three straight homers since April 1, 1997. Kuo became the first player born in Taiwan to hit a home run in a big-league game.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Kelvim Escobar struck out a career-high 14 in six innings, but the Los Angeles Angels lost 5-3 to Cincinnati on Tuesday. Escobar gave up three runs on five hits and walked one. His 14 strikeouts were the most by an Angels pitcher since Chuck Finley fanned 15 Yankees on May 23, 1995.
STREAKS
Casey Blake extended his hitting streak to a career-best 21 games in Cleveland’s 3-0 loss to Florida on Tuesday. … David Wright extended his hitting streak to 14 games in the Mets’ 4-1 loss to the Dodgers. … Seattle topped the Chicago Cubs 5-3 in 13 innings for their season-high fifth straight win.
SNAPPED
Tadahito Iguchi had his 13-game hitting streak snapped in the Chicago White Sox’s 7-3 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday.
SPEAKING
“I wanted to watch the catch, but Pudge was yelling in my ear.” – Tigers hurler Justin Verlander, on the last out of his no-hitter against Milwaukee on Tuesday. Verlander got the Brewers’ J.J. Hardy to fly out to right field and catcher Ivan Rodriguez stormed the mound to hug him as Magglio Ordonez caught the ball to preserve the no-hitter and the 4-0 win.
SEASONS
June 14
1952 – Warren Spahn of the Boston Braves struck out 18 Cubs in a 3-1, 15-inning loss to Chicago. Spahn also homered.
1963 – Duke Snider hit his 400th career home run to highlight a 10-3 triumph by the New York Mets over the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field.
1965 – Jim Maloney struck out 18 and no-hit the New York Mets for 10 innings, but Johnny Lewis’ lead-off home run in the 11th inning gave the Mets a 1-0 win.
1969 – Reggie Jackson of Oakland knocked in 10 runs with two homers, a double and two singles against the Red Sox in Boston. In the eighth, he drove in three runs with a single when he easily could have made second base. Oakland won 21-7.
1974 – Nolan Ryan struck out 19 batters in 12 innings to help give the California Angels a 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox in 15 innings. Cecil Cooper of the Red Sox struck out six times in the game.
1978 – Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds had two hits in a 3-1 triumph over the Chicago Cubs to start his 44-game hitting streak.
1995 – Mike Benjamin went 6-for-7, setting a major league record with 14 hits in three games, and drove in the winning run in the 13th inning as the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3.
2002 – Aaron Boone hit a pair of homers – one in the ninth inning to tie the game and one to win it in the 11th – off Pittsburgh closer Mike Williams as Cincinnati beat the Pirates 4-3.
2002 – With all 14 interleague games – and one NL game – taking place in National League parks, the DH was not employed anywhere throughout major league baseball.
2005 – Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki became the third player since 1900 to reach 1,000 hits in fewer than 700 games when he singled in the bottom of the first inning in Seattle’s 3-1 win over Philadelphia. Suzuki’s 1,000th hit came in his 696th game. Chuck Klein reached the mark in 1933 in 683 games, and Lloyd Waner reached it in 1932 in 686 games.
2005 – Chris Carpenter pitched a one-hitter and struck out 10 to lead St. Louis to a 7-0 win over Toronto.