July 22, 2006
Former ODU pitching standout Justin Verlander pitched six innings, allowing only one run in Detroit's 7-4 victory over Oakland Friday night.He struckout five and walked only one batter.
Verlander improved his record to 12-4 overall with a 2.77 earned run average. The two-time All-CAA pitcher has 80 strikeouts in 123-plus innings.
Justin Verlander, who dueled Haren to a 1-1 score that went into extra innings in their previous meeting, was able to repeat the quality start in his third matchup against the A's this season. Though he allowed seven hits over six innings, three of them came in the third inning, when Milton Bradley singled in Jason Kendall to end Verlander's scoreless streak at 15 innings.
By scattering three hits over his next three innings, Verlander (12-4) had more than enough support to move into a tie for the Major League wins lead, joining Boston's Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling as well as Toronto's Roy Halladay. But the A's forced him to use 105 pitches over six innings to do it.
"I thought Oakland did a tremendous job of making him pitch," Leyland said in admiration. "And because he wasn't getting strike one, his pitch count got up there pretty quick. They had an excellent, excellent game plan against Justin Verlander tonight."
Verlander made up for falling behind by doing a better job of mixing his pitches with two strikes. Four of his five strikeouts came on pitches other than his blazing fastball. He struck out the side in the second inning with two breaking balls and a changeup.
"Especially the breaking ball," he said. "I've been throwing the one that I hadn't ever thrown in my life [until this year]. I've been throwing it numerous starts here in a row, so I think that's coming along for me. It's feeling better and better for me every time."
While Verlander finished his night atop the big-league leaderboard, Young's ninth-inning single finished his night at 2-for-4, following the clip he was hitting at Toledo. He had played a major role in his return for a team that had been winning without him, and he received another ovation as he walked off the field.
"I've always been a part of it," he said. "The team, they've always