After a succession of disturbingly human-looking starts, Justin Verlander looked a bit more like himself on Saturday.
The Detroit Tigers ace showed signs of life, allowing one earned run and striking out eight hitters in seven innings in a 5-4 win over the Cleveland Indians. Verlander’s return to form could not come soon enough for his team.
Detroit fell out of first place in the American League Central on Tuesday after losing 11-4 to the Kansas City Royals, dropping into second for the first time since July 2, 2013.
The Tigers were 27-12 and led the division by seven games on May 18, but they won just nine of their next 29 games, the worst record in baseball during that stretch.
While not the sole reason for that slump, Verlander’s woeful form was a large part of it. His velocity and control were betraying him, leading to some ugly middle innings, and going into Saturday he had allowed five earned runs or more in six of his previous seven starts.
The intimidation that helped him lead the AL in strikeouts in 2009, 2011 and 2012, as well as win the 2011 Cy Young award, was suddenly absent. Verlander is now 6-7 with a 4.73 earned-run average.
As the football world learnt with Spain’s sudden fall from grace in the World Cup, it is stunning to watch someone so reliably dominant fall off so quickly.
Verlander has been the personification of a workhorse since his rookie season in 2006, throwing more than 30,000 pitches in that time, according to Baseball-Reference.com, and not missing a major-league start in nine seasons because of injury.
To his credit, Verlander did not let his ego or worries about his workload get in the way of doing what is best for Detroit. “I think this is probably the first drastic adjustment that I’ve made in the last two years,” he told MLB.com. “This is a bit more than tinkering. I wouldn’t say a complete overhaul. I still throw the same, but this is more than tinkering. This is a change, for sure.”
That extra work makes it easier to call this a return to form rather than a one-night aberration. Detroit could certainly use the boost, with closer Joe Nathan already blowing more saves this season than he did in 2013, with the Texas Rangers, and Max Scherzer getting hit hard in five of his past six starts.
The Tigers are back in first place, thanks in part to the Royals following their 10-game winning streak by losing three in succession.
If they hope to win a fourth straight division title and return to the post-season, Verlander needs to show that Saturday was more than a last gasp from a once-dominant pitcher in free fall.
pfreelend@thenational.ae
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