Justin Verlander recorded six strikeouts and allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings against the Pirates on Saturday in the final start of his career.
Verlander brought one of the most storied pitching careers in recent memory to a close with his final appearance at Comerica Park, throwing 91 pitches before leaving the mound alongside his daughter Genevieve to a standing ovation in the sixth inning. How can you not be romantic about baseball? He carried a shutout into the fourth before serving up a solo homer to Brandon Lowe. He surrendered another solo shot to Jacob Gonzalez in the ensuing frame but otherwise kept Pittsburgh off the scoreboard. The 43-year-old future Hall of Famer concludes a 21-year run in the big leagues as a two-time World Series champion, three-time Cy Young Award winner, 10-time All-Star and 2011 AL MVP. He finishes eighth on the all-time strikeout leaderboard with 3,560 punchouts to go along with a sparkling 3.33 ERA across 3,576 2/3 innings over 557 starts since 2005. Next stop, Cooperstown.
