Wednesday. The middle of the week. Humpday. Halfway between there and here. Eh, you get the point. Some good games on tap today…
American League

Indians at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT — Just a half-game separates these AL Central rivals. Paul Byrd vs Justin Verlander looks like a mismatch, and I suppose it is. Byrd, though, is a crafty veteran with freakish control (18 walks in 143 IP). Verlander’s ERA is 4.89 in seven starts since the All-Star break. Detroit’s offense is crazy good — Magglio Ordonez is a legit MVP candidate, Gary Sheffield is having a monster year (including 20 SB …read more

Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander spun a no-hitter Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. Yep, he shut down the likes of J.J. Hardy, Prince Fielder, and Geoff Jenkins for a full nine innings. Walked Bill Hall all three times, but hey, a guy’s got to know his limitations.
Verlander fanned 12 batters on the night. You know how many pitches he threw? 112. That’s sick.
Another thing that’s sick is Verlander’s improvement this season. He was outstanding as a rookie, but check this out:

Justin Verlander, 2006 vs 2007

Year
Age
IP/GS
ERA+
H/9
HR/9
BB/9
K/9

Stats are through games of June 12, 2007, and are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

2006
23
6.20
125
9.05
1.02
2.90
6.00

2007
24
6.46
156
6.96
0.75
3.21
7.29

Talk about nice …read more