Justin Verlander's daughter, Genevieve, ran on to the field in the fifth inning to get the ball from her dad. A fiery competitor who famously hated giving the ball up for 21 years, Verlander ended his final start Saturday, Sept. 26, hugging his daughter and openly crying before walking off the mound one last time. The final line to Verlander's 557th final regular season start hardly told the story.
Even on paper, it was a good one. Verlander allowed two solo home runs among five hits and one walk against Pittsburgh. He struck out six batters, bringing his career total to 3,560 — first among active pitchers and eighth all-time.
Solo home runs by Josh Lowe and Jacob Gonzalez provided the only runs before Verlander walked off the mound with a 2-0 deficit. He hugged his wife, Kate, and acknowledged a standing ovation from the Comerica Park crowd before disappearing into the dugout one last time. It was a fitting ending to a Hall of Fame career.
More news: Phillies Suddenly Have Reason to Worry After Third Straight Loss The Pirates nearly scored more, but an outstanding throw from right fielder Zach McKinstry nailed Henry Davis at third base to end the fifth inning. Verlander's fastball touched 95 mph — 5 mph less than he regularly touched at his peak, but not bad for a 43-year-old who spent nearly all season on the injured list, and didn't make a rehab start before taking the mound Saturday. More news: Yankees Didn’t Pursue Obvious Trade for Surprising Reason Not to be overlooked, Verlander's counterpart likely made the final start of his career as well.
Kirby Yates, a career reliever, got the ball from Pirates manager Don Kelly as the "opener" in a bullpen game. Yates, 39, pitched 1.2 innings for the Pirates before he was relieved by Johan Ramirez. His teammates hugged him on the mound and catcher Henry Davis gave him the game ball.
Even home plate umpire Laz Diaz appeared to hug Yates walking off the mound. https://bsky.app/profile/pirates.com/post/3mwgucmfuxc26 But the star of the game was Verlander, who was feted in a pregame ceremony a day earlier with former teammates, family and Tigers ownership in attendance. Verlander announced in July that he would retire after the season, not knowing when it would end or if he would even be healthy enough to pitch again. Saturday's game provided all the answers — and ended in tears.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
