For the 595th and final time, Justin Verlander toed a major-league mound Saturday afternoon. The future first-ballot Hall of Famer, returning from the hip and hamstring injuries that had kept him on the shelf since March 30, made a farewell appearance with the Tigers, the team that originally drafted him back in 2004, at Comerica Park in Detroit. "We've been through a lot over the years," Verlander said to Tigers fan during a pregame ceremony on Friday (via MLB.com).
"Your love and support has meant the world to me. That love and support has solidified for me that I am, and always will be, a Detroit Tiger." Verlander was cheered while warming up in the bullpen, when he walked across the field to the dugout, and again when he took the mound for the first inning. He threw a first-pitch fastball -- 92 mph -- that Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Ryan O'Hearn fouled off to begin the game.
O'Hearn, Brandon Lowe, and Bryan Reynolds all hit routine popups/fly balls in a 13-pitch 1-2-3 first inning. For the first time in 3,324 days, Justin Verlander takes the mound at Comerica Park 🐐 pic.twitter.com/PMbVtEApyG "There's no script. I want to go as long as I can," Verlander said going into Saturday's game (via MLB.com).
"I skipped about a month's worth of rehab to be able to do this, but I also don't want to just go out there and throw 20 pitches. I think everybody feels comfortable with 20 pitches, and then after that, we're kind of in a 'who knows' zone." Verlander got Oneil Cruz to chase a breaking ball below the zone for career strikeout No. 3,555 to open the second inning. It was the first of six strikeouts on Verlander's day.
His final strikeout victim was Ronny Simon, who swung through a fastball for the second out of the fifth inning. Simon tried to bunt for a hit earlier in the at-bat, so Verlander buzzed him with a high fastball. Justin Verlander, 94mph ⛽️6th K pic.twitter.com/vyWq0Usd6S Konnor Griffin, Pittsburgh's shortstop and No. 5 hitter, had not yet been born when Verlander made his MLB debut on July 4, 2005.
Griffin was born more than nine months later on April 24, 2006. He lined a single to center in his first at-bat of the afternoon, then got thrown out trying to steal second base by catcher Dillon Dingler. Justin Verlander MLB debut 7/4/05 Konnor Griffin born 4/24/06 Griffin is the first batter to face a pitcher who debuted before he was born since Bryce Harper (10/16/92 born) faced Miguel Batista (4/11/92 debut) on 6/6/12 All told, Verlander went 5 ⅓ innings and threw 91 pitches in his farewell start Saturday, allowing two runs on solo home runs.
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