*Photo from USA Today*
Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander threw his 3rd career no hitter this afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays. He struck out 14 batters and allowed just one baserunner, a walk. Verlander became the 6th pitcher in MLB history to have at least 3 no hitters in a career. Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Cy Young, Larry Corcoran, and Bob Feller are the others. He also is one of 5 pitchers to strike out 14 or more hitters in a no hitter in the last 40 years. Max Scherzer, Ryan, Matt Cain, and Clayton Kershaw are the others.
Verlander said that "I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know that the list of guys who have thrown three instead of two gets pretty small - some of the guys I’ve idolized, it's a special moment. I’m so happy to be able to celebrate this with my teammates. Such an incredible moment and something you get to celebrate with your teammates, which, other than a World Series and winning championships, these team victories like this are few and far between, so I’m going to enjoy this one." Verlander's other two no hitters came when he was a member of the Detroit Tigers, his first coming in 2007 and his second in 2011, also against the Blue Jays. With his no hitter today, he became the first pitcher to throw multiple no hitters in the same road ballpark.
Like the Toronto offense, Houston's was held in check too. That is, until the top of the 9th inning. Toronto closer Ken Giles had two outs in the 9th when Abraham Toro hit a two run shot to make it 2-0. After the game, Verlander found Toro on the field and thanked him for his part in helping. This was the 6th no hitter against Toronto, the most recent being in 2018 from Canadian James Paxton. This was also the 4th no hitter of 2019. The Los Angeles Angels and Astros both threw combined no hitters against the Seattle Mariners, and Mike Fiers of the Oakland Athletics threw a no hitter against the Cincinnati Reds in May.
Comments
Post a Comment