Justin Verlander leaves start after 1 inning with sore shoulder
By Phil Watson
Former MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander has endured a tough season for the Detroit Tigers and it got tougher Monday night when he left his start against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park after one inning with soreness in his shoulder.
According to Tom Gage of the Detroit News:
Verlander right shoulder soreness
— Tom Gage (@Tom_Gage) August 12, 2014
This was just about the last thing the Tigers needed after a Sunday during which they placed starter Anibal Sanchez and reliever Joakim Soria on the disabled list and then played a 19-inning game against the Toronto Blue Jays in which their bullpen worked 10 innings and had to have Rick Porcello, scheduled to start Tuesday in Pittsburgh, work the final two innings.
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Verlander was getting rocked before departing Monday, having allowed five runs—four earned—in the first inning, allowing four hits and walking two while striking out three. He wasn’t helped by his defense making two errors behind him and the right-hander needed 40 pitches to get through the frame.
He was replaced by right-hander Justin Miller, who was recalled along with left-hander Ian Krol on Monday, to take the roster spots of Sanchez and Soria.
Verlander batted in the top of the second, executing a sacrifice bunt, before exiting the game.
It has been an awful season for the six-time All-Star, who came into Monday’s start with a 10-10 record to go with a 4.57 ERA and 1.395 WHIP in 24 starts and 157.2 innings. With 115 strikeouts, his rate of 6.6 Ks per nine innings is the lowest it’s been since he was a rookie in 2006.
Detroit came into the night with a half-game lead over the Kansas City Royals in the American League Central.