Personal Loans

Detroit, MI, United States (AHN) – Football has swept through Michigan this month but Justin Verlander is doing his best to keep everyone’s mind still on baseball.

Verlander left Detroit’s game on Sunday against Baltimore at Comerica Park trailing 2-1 after eight strong innings.

But Verlander’s Tiger teammates came through to give the Detroit ace his 16th win of the season with a 6-2 verdict.

“He had a great curve, I thought he had a great change-up,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. “He pitched tremendous. That’s shutout stuff.”

“I felt really good,’” Verlander, who is now 16-8, said. “It’s probably the best I’ve felt all year. Every thing seemed to work well for me. My curveball was good again, My changeup was good as well. I felt I could throw it any time I wanted to for strikes. When you have that going for you it’s pretty beneficial especially when you fall behind in the count.”

Verlander left the game Sunday trailing 2-1. Baltimore’s Chris Tillman had entered the game at 1-4 with a 7.42 ERA, but threw 6.2 innings of one-hit ball.

The Tigers rallied in the eighth off Baltimore reliever David Hernandez with Miguel Cabrera getting a three-run double, followed by Brandon Inge’s two-run homer.

“He pitched well enough for the win and kind of deserved it,” Inge said of Verlander.

“I have to give credit to the guys once again,” Verlander said. “It seems like time and time again, they pick me up. Today was no exception. They go out there and battle. Tillman threw the ball outstanding but we were able to get his pitch count up in later innings and got to the bullpen. Every time I talk about it, it’s somebody different. This time, it’s Miggy and Inge.”

Verlander struck out 11 marking the 14th game in his career with 10 or more strikeouts. It was his third of the season.

Verlander now has won a career high 11 games at Comerica Park.

“It feels good to be able to pitch well here at home,” he said. “This is our ballpark. You want to win here, not that you don’t want to win on the road. Football season has started and we’re excited about football too. That doesn’t change anything on the mound. It’s me and baseball and it doesn’t change regardless of what else is going on.”

Verlander is likely to get four or five more starts and could take aim at a 20-win season.

“I’ll have a few more starts,” he said. “I think I need to throw well the last few starts to feel good about the season. I don’t think I’m where I need to be right now.”

Leyland appreciates Verlander’s strong contributions on the mound for a team that is 72-72.

“We’ve been pretty scrapped for pitching lately,” Leyland said. “That’s the way it goes.”

View full post on All Stories