I saw the "121 pitches" in the header for the ESPN story, and my first thought was, like many others might have thought:
Nobody throws 121 pitches today.
My second thought was:
Was it a complete game?
The reality?
He struggled to go a full 5 innings to be officially eligible for the win.
The 42-year-old right-hander struck out 10 in five scoreless innings Sunday, helping the San Francisco Giants to a 13-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. With the Giants leading 7-0 in the fifth, San Francisco wasn't about to remove Verlander, even as his pitch count climbed. He finally finished the top of that inning by striking out Gunnar Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle — and that allowed him to qualify for his third victory of the year.
After that, my thoughts are:
First, he's gassed.
Second, 10Ks in five innings? The Orioles must suck.
Third thought: Winning two in a row will probably "prove" to Verlander he's not gassed and he'll try to land with a team again next year.
10 comments
If anybody can go 121 these days it’s Verlander. Even at his age now.
Verlander hasn’t been bad, when viewed through the lens of a fifth starter.
Talk about a stat padder he struggled to go 5 with a 9 run lead
He will try to land with another team next year, and he’ll get it for sure. Given the prices of pitchers right now, teams would be dumb to not take a 10 million flyer on verlander. Hes honestly pitched much better than a 3-10 record, and he would probably be closer to 6-10 or even 8-10 if the giants bats didnt suck
121 pitches in 5 innings is crazy to also have allowed 0 runs
121 pitches in 5 innings is crazy. His arm is going to be sore for a week
Zack Littell threw 117 pitches in a complete game earlier this season
Why would they let him do this
121 pitches??? In this economy ?
He’s gonna need to double his hgh dose. He’s gonna be sore after this one.