The New York Yankees visited the Detroit Tigers on Monday night. Unfortunately for the feared Yankees lineup, they drew reigning AL Cy Young winner and MVP Justin Verlander to open up the series. Verlander mowed down the Yankees, striking out 14 in eight innings of work in the 7-2 Tigers victory.
Justin Verlander Strikes Out 14, Beats Yankees
Justin Verlander proved again on Monday why he is considered the most fearsome pitcher in baseball. He made the Yankees look like amateurs for most the game.
Bill Hanstock is a writer, author and Emmy Award-winning producer. He began writing for SB Nation in 2011.
Verlander allowed a pair of two-out RBI singles to Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter in the fifth inning, but stopped the Yankees offense right there. Verlander allowed eight hits and one walk in his eight innings pitched, improving to 12-7 with a 2.51 ERA for the 2012 season to date.
As for Verlander's 14 strikeouts, the batters he K'd were certainly no slouches, but the most feared pitcher in the AL did a good job of making them look like chumps. He struck out Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira and Ichiro Suzuki three times each. He struck out Nick Swisher twice. Jeter and Cano -- the only two batters who picked up RBI -- were the only members of the Yankees starting lineup not to strike out against the Tigers ace.
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