Special Verlander Difference in Nailbiter

DETROIT -- When Gerald Laird saw Jim Leyland stride quickly to the mound in the eighth inning of Tuesday's nightcap at Comerica Park, he knew Leyland wasn't coming to take out Justin Verlander.

No one else could be sure. The Twins had already scored two runs in the inning, cutting the Tigers' lead to one, and Verlander had thrown 125 pitches.

Verlander was alternating glances between Leyland and the bullpen gate. Left fielder Clete Thomas started walking over to center fielder Curtis Granderson, anticipating a break for a pitching change. But Leyland said about six quick words to Verlander, turned around and headed back to the dugout. The fans roared their approval, and it turned out to be the right decision.

"I basically told him that, 'I don't have anybody better than you [in the bullpen],' " Leyland said later. "That's the line I usually use. And with him I mean it.

"Once in a while, you're not quite so sure. But with him I mean it."

Said Verlander: "He said that a while ago. I think he said that in Chicago. That wasn't his go-to line today."

But Verlander was his go-to guy.

"I basically told [Justin] that, 'I don't have anybody better than you [in the bullpen]"
-- Tigers manager Jim Leyland Verlander got Michael Cuddyer to ground out to end the eighth and Detroit hung on for a 6-5 victory and a doubleheader split that guarantees Minnesota will leave town Thursday night no better than tied for first place.

The Twins had won the opener, 3-2 in 10 innings, to close within a game in the AL Central.

"All the momentum could be over there [with the Twins]," said Laird, the Tigers' catcher. "But I feel like we answered."

With some bad situational hitting and sloppy defense, the Tigers didn't show much on the day to inspire confidence they will hold on through the week.

Except for Verlander.

Leyland knows, and he showed everyone else, he has something special in Verlander -- the rare kind of pitcher where pitch counts don't matter , who can block out the pressure and who has something in reserve late in the game when a win is on the line.

And if the Tigers get to a Division Series against the Yankees, their best reason to hope for an upset will be two Verlander starts. Even if Verlander has to come back in Sunday's regular-season finale because Detroit hasn't clinched, he'd be able to pitch Games 2 and 5 of the Division Series on normal rest (assuming the Yankees choose the series with the extra off day).

Verlander's final line Tuesday wasn't spectacular -- eight innings, eight hits, four runs -- but it was an ace performance.

"I think this is the most important regular season game I've ever thrown," he said. "This is basically a playoff game in September."

Verlander followed his usual schedule for a night game, so he stayed in bed past noon, which was the start time of the opener. He tried to watch some of the first game but found it made him anxious, so he went out for lunch. The game was on TV there, so that's how he found out he was pitching to prevent a tie in the standings.

"I knew we had to win," he said. "But you can't think that."

Verlander (18-9) has thrown 125 or more pitches in five of his past seven starts, including three in a row.

But he was as sharp as ever Tuesday. He had the 96-98 mph fastball that made his 84 mph diving changeup that much more effective, plus command of a big-breaking curve. And when he had to, he reached back for 99 mph.

With some rare early run support, Verlander cruised through five innings, striking out six and allowing two singles. In the sixth, the Twins scored two runs, keyed when Joe Mauer somehow pulled a double on a 98 mph fastball that was shoulder high and about a foot away from his body. ("That was a joke," Verlander said. "That's the only thing I've got for that.")

So it was 5-2 going into the eighth. Then two singles, a wild pitch, a run-scoring groundout and Jason Kubel's double on a 96 mph fastball cut it to 5-4. Which brought about Leyland's brief visit.


"He's our horse," Leyland said. "He had to be out there. ... I don't think you can take him out.

"The pitch-count thing, it pertains to some people and to other people it probably doesn't."

Leyland's actual words at the mound, according to Verlander and Laird: "This is your guy. Go get 'em."

"I didn't have to say a word," Verlander said.

He couldn't. Leyland was gone before he could open his mouth.

"It just goes to show you how much 'skipper' has confidence in him," Laird said. "I feel like he earned that, he earned that hitter (Cuddyer)."

All he had to do was give his team some badly needed breathing room. At the end of the day, after each team had scored eight runs, the Tigers were two games up with five to play.

"Everybody keeps talking about the pressure," Leyland said. "There is pressure. There's pressure on both teams. I mean, there's supposed to be. But it's something that you embrace. It's good pressure.

"This is October baseball in September. That's what it is."

And Verlander rose to the occasion.

"This is what baseball's all about," he said. "We're here at the end of September, we're in the driver's seat a little bit. The Twins are playing catch-up, not the other way around."

Thanks to Verlander.