Wormburner
Pitchers with perfect game scores, part 2
In honor of Justin Verlander's final career start coming up this Saturday in Detroit, let's take a look at the surefire hall of famer's greatest start of all time. There are many to choose from, but today, we're going with the one that occurred a little over seven years ago on Sept 1, 2019.
| Pitcher | Game | GSc | IP | R | ER | K | BB | W | L | ERA | FIP | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Verlander | HOU@TOR Sep 1, 2019 | 100 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.44 | 0.111 |
It was his third no hitter, and notably his second against Toronto, with both happening in the foreign confines of Rogers Centre. The standout performance earned him, surprisingly, his only career game score of 100. It was the 7th and final 100+ game score of the 2010s, the most 100+ game scores to be recorded in a decade since the 70s.
Verlander struck out an impressive 14 batters, tied for the 7th-most Ks for a perfect game score. His only baserunner was Cavan Biggio, whom he walked in the first inning, so he was perfect for 8+ innings.
He accomplished the feat in 120 pitches, 12 less than his career high of 133. Notably, the last five pitches he threw to Bo Bichette to close out the game were the five fastest pitches he had thrown all day. That's about as Verlander as it gets!