Justin Verlander Throws His Third Career No Hitter

The ace is dead? As long as Justin Verlander is around, the ace lives on. And the game is better because of it.

 

Houston LEGEND

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/justin-verlander-earned-that-no-hitter/

"Some no-hitters are marked by great defensive plays. This was not one of those games.

.....

A no-hitter is going to have some random bounces that help shape history, but in recent memory, no pitcher has deserved a no-hitter more than Justin Verlander did against the Blue Jays on Sunday night."

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Pretty good article.

 

In retrospect, it was probably a dumb idea to go run errands after the 4th inning on Sunday like I did.

Good thing the replay is currently waiting for me on my DVR.

 

Love it.

DD

 

Reposting here, for posterity, NSFW:

 

Will have to read it. Reposting from the game thread:

https://www.mlb.com/news/most-dominant-no-hitters

"Verlander's no-no among most dominant ever; Righty's game score of 100 vs. Blue Jays in record territory"
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By the "game score" metric, it was apparently one the top 10 most dominant no-hitters in history.

 

Strom on Verlander, from mlb.com:

Astros pitching coach Brent Strom isn’t quite sure how many no-hitters he’s been a part of in his career, but there’s probably no doubt watching Justin Verlander throw his third career no-hitter Sunday in Toronto was one of the pinnacle moments of his career.

“That one was special just because of the way the score went,” Strom said Monday.

The game was scoreless heading to the ninth when Abraham Toro hit a two-out, two-run homer, allowing Verlander to finish off his third career no-no. Only Sandy Koufax (four) and Nolan Ryan (seven) have thrown more.

“The eighth inning was my biggest nervous inning,” Strom said. “I was afraid that somehow they’d get a run and he’s done for the day. I found myself in the ninth inning looking at my hand. I was actually shaking a little bit.”

Coming out of the bullpen prior to the game, bullpen coach Josh Miller told Strom he wasn’t sure what kind of stuff Verlander was going to have.

“He kind of questioned it a little bit,” Strom said. “I don’t think J.V., much like I learned from Koufax, places a great deal of emphasis on how he feels in the bullpen. You can be fooled. He just wants the ball to come out clean. He wants to get his hop on his fastball. He had 20 to 24 inches of hop, which is exceptional. He’s just a unique pitcher in this day and age with what he’s able to do at the top of the zone. He had a good curveball and a great slider and lost it and used the curveball a little more. It was a special day for sure.”

Strom said Verlander’s preparedness is unrivaled, and when you combine that with his work ethic, experience and the information the organization provides, he’s in a position to dominate. And now Verlander is one no-hitter away from tying Koufax, who was Strom’s favorite pitcher of all time.

“[Verlander] knows the history of the game,” Strom said. “He knows what he’s chasing. There’s nothing wrong with setting your goals really high. He wants to pitch as long as Nolan did. He’s talked to Nolan about this. As the years go by, he’s going to have to adjust a little bit because Father Time waits for no one. He’s probably going to make the appropriate adjustments much like [Roger] Clemens and Ryan did and probably add more offspeed, which he did yesterday.

“He’s a throwback. He’s a special guy. I think he should be pitching back in the day with [Tom] Seaver and that group. That’s the era he kind of belongs in because he’s a 250-inning guy. He’s just pitching in a different era right now. That’s why he’s so unique in today’s game because he’s just different than everybody else.”