A picture may be worth a thousand words, but not having to pose for a team picture while wearing a mock turtleneck in scorching temperatures may be indescribably valuable.
"I got a pass," Justin Verlander said. "I got two passes. I got a pass on that and I got a pass on the field day where the players go on the field and greet all the fans. I got a pass on that one, too."
While his teammates were sweating it out in the high heat of the afternoon Friday, Verlander was preparing to cool off the White Sox. And he did just that over 7 1/3 masterful and efficient innings in the Tigers' 8-1 victory before a sellout crowd of 42,352 at Comerica Park.
Verlander (21-5) struck out six and allowed one run on seven hits and one walk and became the first Tigers pitcher to win 21 games since Jack Morris finished 21-8 in 1986. Verlander retired nine straight at one point and gave up only three hits through six innings. He was efficient, but not fast.
"It felt good," he said. "This start felt a lot better than last with my just slowing everything down a bit, and I felt that actually helped save me a little bit from the heat as well at the same time."
Verlander also won his ninth straight start. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Verlander is the first big leaguer to win nine straight starts since Kansas City's Zack Greinke from late 2008 through early 2009.
Verlander is the first pitcher to win nine straight starts in one season since Arizona's Brandon Webb won his first nine starts in 2008. Webb also won his last two starts in '07. With those wins in 11 straight starts, he's the most recent pitcher to win more than nine straight starts.
"It was a hot night, humid," manager Jim Leyland said. "Really a tough night to pitch. And you could see that both guys, (Chicago's John) Danks and Justin, both were laboring a little because it was pretty humid and hot.
"But another stellar performance. And it was kind of a neat night because Justin picked the guys up and the guys picked Justin up, and that's a nice combination."
The Tigers jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and pushed it to 8-0 with a five-run fifth led by Austin Jackson's two-run home run.
By the eighth inning, Verlander was trying to work a little faster. He paid for it when he grooved a 92 m.p.h. fastball that Tyler Flowers hit over the leftfield wall. Verlander yielded to Joaquin Benoit with one out and the bases loaded. But Benoit stranded the runners when he retired Paul Konerko on a pop up and A.J. Pierzynski on a line drive out to first.
Verlander said he took advantage of getting an extra day of rest between starts. But he used that rest to throw three bullpen sessions and hone his craft even more.
"Had a lot of stuff to iron out," he said. "So I felt like it was beneficial for me. Just keep working on those same things and hopefully it gets better as the season progresses."
The weather may be due to cool off, but Verlander sounds like he's just starting to heat up.
Contact Carlos Monarrez: 313-222-6697 or cmonarrez@freepress.com .
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