Verlander has been nothing short of dominant since he scuffled out of the gate to begin this season. With a new “I hate you” attitude he takes into games where he probably envisions opposing hitters as Shooter McGavin tonguing his grandma in the Kiss mask, he has absolutely mowed hitters down.
Thursday afternoon was no exception, as he tossed an absolute gem (8 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, and 8 K’s) to help the Tigers salvage a game in Beantown. During day games this season, Verlander is now 6-2, has tossed 70 IP, allowed just 12 ER (1.54 ERA compared to a 4.53 night game ERA), and has racked up 80 strike outs.
What is probably even more impressive was Verlander dialing his fastball up in the upper-90’s all game long on Thursday. ESPN sports writer, Keith Law was at the game surrounded by real radar guns and mentioned that Verlander hit 100 MPH legitimately, not on the normally juiced TV sets. Regardless of the radar showings we see on TV, no other starter this season can say they’ve touched 100 MPH (which may be 96 MPH for real) as often as Verlander did against Boston on Thursday. He threw 123 pitches total in the series’ matinee game and his last four pitches were clocked at 99, 99, 100, and 100. Observe the last two pitches of his 8 inning masterpiece after the jump.
100 MPH. Like. It’s. Easy.
Verlander strikes Bay out with a 100 MPH fastball. He throws so hard it hurts his catcher’s non-glove hand. For the record, Verlander fist pumps at just 92 MPH.
If you don’t believe that Verlander can touch 100 MPH still, despite me showing you the guns on TV and a tweet from Mr. Keith Law claiming he saw it on a gun… even MLB Game Day, which is usually a few MPH slower than what shows up on TV has his last pitch at 99.5 MPH. According to my co-writer, Chip Stevenson, the world record for fastest pitch is registered at 100.9
In the end, Detroit walked away with a 2-0 victory thanks to two RBIs from Ryan Raburn and a Fernando Rodney 1-2-3 save. According to Ian Casselberry this is the first time Detroit has shut out Boston at Fenway since 1987. As you should all know, Detroit made the playoffs in 1987 (but let’s forget about what happened in the playoffs that year, though).
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