The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Astros’ Verlander pitches 3rd career no-hitter
TORONTO — Justin Verlander pitched his third career nohitter, punctuating a dominant season by striking out
14 to lead the Houston
Astros past the Toronto Blue Jays 20 on Sunday.
Verlander is just the sixth pitcher in majorleague history to throw at least three nohitters.
The righthander became the first pitcher to throw two nohitters as a visitor in the same park — he also threw one at Rogers Centre in 2011 with Detroit. His other nono was in 2007 for the Tigers against Milwaukee.
Verlander allowed only one runner, with Cavan Biggio, the son of lifetime Astro Craig Biggio, drawing a oneout walk in the first inning. The Blue Jays, with a lineup full of young, aggressive batters, never came close to a hit.
“I can’t put it into words,” Verlander said, moments after the final out.
The 36yearold Verlander joined Nolan Ryan (seven), Sandy Koufax (four) and Bob Feller, Cy Young and 1880sera Larry Corcoran (three) in rarefied air on the nohitter list.
“Some of the guys I’ve idolized,” Verlander said.
And it came after a series of nearmisses over the years.
Verlander lost a nohit try in the eighth inning late in 2011, had bids broken in the ninth in 2012 and 2015 and had another attempt spoiled last May in the seventh by Jose Abreu of the White Sox.
“I’ve come so close to the third one so many times,” Verlander said.
On this afternoon, he brought it home. Verlander threw a seasonhigh 120 pitches, mixing a fastball that reached the upper 90s mph with a sharp curve.
Verlander retired the last 26 hitters in a row. But he still needed help because the game was scoreless going into the last inning — according to baseball rules, Verlander had to pitch a complete game to get credit for a nohitter.
That’s when Canadianborn rookie Abraham Toro stepped up for the AL West leaders. The Astros newcomer hit a twoout, tworun homer in the ninth inning off Ken Giles (23) that cleared the way for Verlander to complete the nohitter.
Toro made a routine play on Bo Bichette’s grounder to third base for the last out.
Verlander joked the 22yearold Toro, playing just his eighth game in the majors, was in for quite a nice reward.
This was the fourth nohitter in the majors this year. The last one was by the Astros, too, a combined effort from Aaron
Sanchez, Will Harris, Joe Biagini and Chris Devenski against Seattle on Aug. 3.
Oakland’s Mike Fiers and a tandem effort by Taylor Cole and Felix Pena of the Angels accounted for this year’s other gems.
Verlander (175) is tied for the bigleague lead in wins. He tops the majors in strikeouts (257) and innings (193) and leads the AL with a 2.56 ERA.
With the crowd of 24,104 getting to its feet to begin the ninth, Verlander retired Brandon Drury on an easy grounder and struck out Reese McGuire.
After that second out, catcher Robinson Chirinos went to the mound for a quick visit with Verlander. The count went full on Bichette, who fouled off a pitch before hitting a bouncer to Toro.
Verlander took a couple hops toward first as he watched Toro field the ball, saw the throw on target and then began the celebration in the middle of the diamond.
Not bad for an ace who was ejected in his previous start. Verlander was tossed last Tuesday at home shortly after a close pitch didn’t go his way against Tampa Bay.
It was Verlander’s ninth career shutout. This was the 13th nohitter for the Astros, including one by Ryan.
The Blue Jays were nohit for the sixth time. Before Sunday, the last to do it was Seattle’s James Paxton, who became the first Canadian pitcher to throw a big league nohitter north of the border when he beat the Blue Jays on May 8, 2018.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: INF Yuli Gurriel (left elbow contusion) was scratched from the lineup. He was hit on the elbow by a pitch Saturday. … RHP Josh James (right shoulder) was activated off the injured list.
Blue Jays: Reinstated RHP Ryan Tepera (right elbow) from the 60day injured list. To make room on the 40man roster, RHP Neil Ramirez was designated for assignment. … OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (strained left quadriceps) took batting practice on the field before the game and could be activated off the injured list Thursday. …OF Derek Fisher (sprained right ankle) was scratched from the lineup and replaced by Drury. Fisher ran into the wall while fielding a double Saturday.
ROSTER REPORT
Blue Jays: Toronto recalled C Beau Taylor from TripleA Buffalo. … The Blue Jays completed their July 28 trade with Tampa Bay by acquiring minorleague RHPs Edisson Gonzalez and Curtis Taylor. Toronto traded INF Eric Sogard to the Rays. Gonzalez, 19, was 42 with a 2.45 ERA at Class A. Taylor, 24, had seven saves in nine opportunities at DoubleA.