DETROIT -- Justin Verlander approached this start like a postseason game, fully aware of how tough the Los Angeles Dodgers are to beat right now.
After five innings, Verlander had a no-hitter going -- but so did Kenta Maeda. Then Detroit broke through for four runs in the sixth, giving Verlander a little more margin for error.
"It's impossible to really create a playoff atmosphere without being in the playoffs, but I tried my best to do that," Verlander said. "There was that much more focus and intensity in every pitch."
Verlander allowed two hits in eight innings, and the Tigers beat the Dodgers 6-1 on Sunday, snapping their six-game skid and halting a six-game winning streak by Los Angeles.
The Tigers star allowed a home run to Curtis Granderson in the sixth, but shortly after his no-hit bid ended, Detroit broke up Maeda's and took the lead in the bottom of the inning.
Verlander (9-8) walked one and struck out nine.
"Verlander certainly showed today that he's still an ace," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "He hasn't had the career he's had by accident. He's a great pitcher."
Maeda (11-5) retired the first 15 Detroit batters before allowing five hits in the sixth. He was pulled after that inning and lost for the first time in seven starts.
Verlander has pitched two no-hitters in his career. He retired the first 13 Los Angeles hitters, taming the team with by far the best record in the major leagues.
"If Justin Verlander's pitching well, it doesn't matter. It could be the `27 Yankees," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "The numbers are going to look pretty good for Ver at the end of the game if he's pitching like he did today."
Verlander walked Yasiel Puig on a full count in the fifth, and Granderson's drive to right field an inning later hit the pole for a homer. The only other hitter to reach base against Verlander was Austin Barnes, who singled in the eighth.
John Hicks lined a clean single to left-center to lead off the bottom of the sixth and break up Maeda's perfect game. Andrew Romine followed with a double, and Dixon Machado hit a two-run double that put the Tigers up 2-1.
Justin Upton added a two-run homer later in the inning.
"It all happened very quickly. He gave up that first double on a curveball, and then they got a couple more," Roberts said. "He looked like he was going to get through it, but he hung a slider in Justin's turbo zone. You can't do that right now."
It was Upton's 26th home run of the year.
Verlander, who has been the subject of trade speculation for several weeks, waved to the crowd as he entered the dugout after the top of the eighth.
Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run double in the eighth to make it 6-1.
BORDERLINE
Verlander was hoping he'd struck out Granderson with a pitch immediately before his home run -- but the fastball was just off the plate. Verlander later conceded that plate umpire Chris Segal had made the right call and said he told the ump that toward the end of the game.
"I think if you ask almost any umpire, I'm kind of one of those guys that's pretty fiery out there," Verlander said. "Then I'll go look at it and try to give an objective opinion. If it's a ball, I try to come back and say, `Hey, you were right."
Umpires wore white wristbands during Saturday's games after Detroit's Ian Kinsler was fined but not suspended for a recent tirade against ump Angel Hernandez. The protest of what umpires called "abusive player behavior" ended after Commissioner Rob Manfred offered to meet with their union's governing board.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (lower back strain) is expected to pitch a three-inning simulated game Monday. ... 1B Cody Bellinger sat out after spraining his right ankle Saturday.
UP NEXT
Dodgers: LHP Alex Wood (14-1) takes the mound at Pittsburgh on Monday night against RHP Gerrit Cole (10-8) of the Pirates.
Tigers: Detroit has Monday off before hosting the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. LHP Matthew Boyd (5-6) starts the opener of that series against RHP Masahiro Tanaka (8-10).
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
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Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister
After five innings, Verlander had a no-hitter going -- but so did Kenta Maeda. Then Detroit broke through for four runs in the sixth, giving Verlander a little more margin for error.
"It's impossible to really create a playoff atmosphere without being in the playoffs, but I tried my best to do that," Verlander said. "There was that much more focus and intensity in every pitch."
Verlander allowed two hits in eight innings, and the Tigers beat the Dodgers 6-1 on Sunday, snapping their six-game skid and halting a six-game winning streak by Los Angeles.
The Tigers star allowed a home run to Curtis Granderson in the sixth, but shortly after his no-hit bid ended, Detroit broke up Maeda's and took the lead in the bottom of the inning.
Verlander (9-8) walked one and struck out nine.
"Verlander certainly showed today that he's still an ace," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "He hasn't had the career he's had by accident. He's a great pitcher."
Maeda (11-5) retired the first 15 Detroit batters before allowing five hits in the sixth. He was pulled after that inning and lost for the first time in seven starts.
Verlander has pitched two no-hitters in his career. He retired the first 13 Los Angeles hitters, taming the team with by far the best record in the major leagues.
"If Justin Verlander's pitching well, it doesn't matter. It could be the `27 Yankees," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "The numbers are going to look pretty good for Ver at the end of the game if he's pitching like he did today."
Verlander walked Yasiel Puig on a full count in the fifth, and Granderson's drive to right field an inning later hit the pole for a homer. The only other hitter to reach base against Verlander was Austin Barnes, who singled in the eighth.
John Hicks lined a clean single to left-center to lead off the bottom of the sixth and break up Maeda's perfect game. Andrew Romine followed with a double, and Dixon Machado hit a two-run double that put the Tigers up 2-1.
Justin Upton added a two-run homer later in the inning.
"It all happened very quickly. He gave up that first double on a curveball, and then they got a couple more," Roberts said. "He looked like he was going to get through it, but he hung a slider in Justin's turbo zone. You can't do that right now."
It was Upton's 26th home run of the year.
Verlander, who has been the subject of trade speculation for several weeks, waved to the crowd as he entered the dugout after the top of the eighth.
Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run double in the eighth to make it 6-1.
BORDERLINE
Verlander was hoping he'd struck out Granderson with a pitch immediately before his home run -- but the fastball was just off the plate. Verlander later conceded that plate umpire Chris Segal had made the right call and said he told the ump that toward the end of the game.
"I think if you ask almost any umpire, I'm kind of one of those guys that's pretty fiery out there," Verlander said. "Then I'll go look at it and try to give an objective opinion. If it's a ball, I try to come back and say, `Hey, you were right."
Umpires wore white wristbands during Saturday's games after Detroit's Ian Kinsler was fined but not suspended for a recent tirade against ump Angel Hernandez. The protest of what umpires called "abusive player behavior" ended after Commissioner Rob Manfred offered to meet with their union's governing board.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (lower back strain) is expected to pitch a three-inning simulated game Monday. ... 1B Cody Bellinger sat out after spraining his right ankle Saturday.
UP NEXT
Dodgers: LHP Alex Wood (14-1) takes the mound at Pittsburgh on Monday night against RHP Gerrit Cole (10-8) of the Pirates.
Tigers: Detroit has Monday off before hosting the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. LHP Matthew Boyd (5-6) starts the opener of that series against RHP Masahiro Tanaka (8-10).
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
---
Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Los Angeles - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Justin Verlander pitching for Detroit | LAD | DET |
| Granderson struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Seager lined out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Turner flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Kenta Maeda pitching for Los Angeles | LAD | DET |
| Kinsler struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Presley flied out to left. | 0 | 0 |
| Upton struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Justin Verlander pitching for Detroit | LAD | DET |
| González struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Puig popped out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| Utley struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Kenta Maeda pitching for Los Angeles | LAD | DET |
| Cabrera struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Mahtook struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Martínez flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Justin Verlander pitching for Detroit | LAD | DET |
| Forsythe struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Barnes fouled out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Hernández grounded out to pitcher. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Kenta Maeda pitching for Los Angeles | LAD | DET |
| Hicks grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| Romine lined out to pitcher. | 0 | 0 |
| Machado flied out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Justin Verlander pitching for Detroit | LAD | DET |
| Granderson struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Seager lined out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Turner grounded out to pitcher. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Kenta Maeda pitching for Los Angeles | LAD | DET |
| Kinsler flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Presley grounded out to pitcher. | 0 | 0 |
| Upton struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Justin Verlander pitching for Detroit | LAD | DET |
| González struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Puig walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Utley struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Forsythe struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Kenta Maeda pitching for Los Angeles | LAD | DET |
| Cabrera popped out to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Mahtook struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Martínez fouled out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Justin Verlander pitching for Detroit | LAD | DET |
| Barnes grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| Hernández struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Granderson homered to right (394 feet). | 1 | 0 |
| Seager fouled out to catcher. | 1 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Kenta Maeda pitching for Los Angeles | LAD | DET |
| Hicks singled to center. | 1 | 0 |
| Romine doubled to left center, Hicks to third. | 1 | 0 |
| Machado doubled to left, Hicks and Romine scored. | 1 | 2 |
| Kinsler struck out swinging. | 1 | 2 |
| Presley fouled out to catcher. | 1 | 2 |
| Upton homered to left (400 feet), Machado scored. | 1 | 4 |
| Cabrera singled to center. | 1 | 4 |
| Mahtook grounded into fielder's choice to third, Cabrera out at second. | 1 | 4 |
| 4 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Justin Verlander pitching for Detroit | LAD | DET |
| Turner flied out to center. | 1 | 4 |
| González flied out to left. | 1 | 4 |
| Puig flied out to right. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Luis Avilan pitching for Los Angeles | LAD | DET |
| Avilán relieved Maeda. | 1 | 4 |
| Martínez struck out swinging. | 1 | 4 |
| Hicks grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 4 |
| Romine doubled to right. | 1 | 4 |
| Machado struck out swinging. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Justin Verlander pitching for Detroit | LAD | DET |
| Utley flied out to center. | 1 | 4 |
| Forsythe grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 4 |
| Barnes singled to right. | 1 | 4 |
| Hernández grounded into fielder's choice to third, Barnes out at second. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Detroit - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Tony Cingrani pitching for Los Angeles | LAD | DET |
| Cingrani relieved Avilán. | 1 | 4 |
| Kinsler singled to right. | 1 | 4 |
| Jones hit for Presley. | 1 | 4 |
| Kinsler stole second. | 1 | 4 |
| Jones walked. | 1 | 4 |
| Upton popped out to second. | 1 | 4 |
| Cabrera doubled to deep right center, Kinsler and Jones scored. | 1 | 6 |
| Cabrera to third on wild pitch by Cingrani. | 1 | 6 |
| Mahtook flied out to center. | 1 | 6 |
| Martínez grounded out to second. | 1 | 6 |
| 2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Daniel Stumpf pitching for Detroit | LAD | DET |
| Jones in center field. | 1 | 6 |
| Mahtook in right field. | 1 | 6 |
| Stumpf relieved Verlander. | 1 | 6 |
| Granderson grounded out to second. | 1 | 6 |
| Seager singled to left. | 1 | 6 |
| Turner fouled out to first. | 1 | 6 |
| González struck out swinging. | 1 | 6 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles Dodgers | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Granderson LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 26 | .226 | .330 | .481 |
| Seager SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | .308 | .394 | .512 |
| Turner 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | .340 | .430 | .554 |
| González 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 17 | .249 | .294 | .333 |
| Puig RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | .249 | .335 | .457 |
| Utley DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | .231 | .324 | .401 |
| Forsythe 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | .241 | .363 | .323 |
| Barnes C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | .294 | .410 | .510 |
| Hernández CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | .218 | .313 | .456 |
| Totals | 30 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 128 | |||
| BATTING HR: Granderson (20, 6th inning off Verlander 0 on, 2 Out) RBI: Granderson (53) 2-out RBI: Granderson Team LOB: 3 | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Comerica Park, Detroit, MI |
| Attendance | 30,901 (74.3% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 2:33 |
| Weather | 80 degrees, sunny |
| Wind | 5 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Chris Segal, First Base - Bill Miller, Second Base - Todd Tichenor, Third Base - Adam Hamari |
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