Justin Verlander: MLB Hurlers Give Gift of Great Pitching for Mother's Day

On a busy May weekend that featured Mother’s Day and the Kentucky Derby, pitchers all across Major League Baseball served up scintillating performances that would make any mom proud. 

Here is a recap for those who took a break to watch the ponies or to hang out with family. 

Another No-Hitter?

Yes, indeed.  For the second time in less than a week, another no-no got added to the record books. 

Justin Verlander joined an elite club by tossing his second career no-hitter, blanking the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre on Saturday.  With the effort, he became just the 30th pitcher in MLB history to throw multiple no-hitters. 

Only a one-out walk in the eighth prevented Verlander from turning Saturday’s performance into a perfect game. 

No-Hit Bids

 Several others came close to joining Verlander in the no-hit club. 

On Friday night, Atlanta’s Derek Lowe did not surrender a base hit until the seventh inning in a 5-0 victory against Philadelphia.  Meanwhile, Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals was perfect through 7.1 en route to a two-hit, complete-game shutout of the Brewers. 

On Saturday, while Verlander was making history in Toronto, Milwaukee ace Yovani Gallardo returned the favor against St. Louis, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning and combining with reliever John Axford on a scoreless one-hitter. 

Not to be outdone, Anibal Sanchez of the Marlins made a run at his second-career no-hitter, holding the Nationals hitless through six in an 8-0 win on Sunday. 

Interestingly, Sanchez had another no-hit bid broken up in the ninth against Colorado on April 22, finishing with a one-hit complete game.  

High-Quality Starts

 Not everyone flirted with a no-hitter over the weekend, but a variety of gems were turned in around the league. 

Among the 90 starting pitchers who took the mound on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a whopping 58 posted a quality start. 

The Unusual Suspects

While several of the game's best baffled hitters during the last few days, many of these quality starts were logged by some of baseball’s newest arms. 

Yankees rookie Ivan Nova quieted a potent Rangers lineup on Friday, tossing seven-plus innings of two-hit ball without allowing an earned run.  On Saturday, Arizona’s Daniel Hudson won his third straight with seven scoreless innings of work on the road against San Diego. 

Honorable Mention

 Lost in all the commotion was Cliff Lee’s odd stat line from Friday night’s game at Atlanta.  Despite allowing three earned runs and taking the loss, Lee struck out 16 Braves, the most punchouts in a single game by a Philly in nearly 14 years. 

It was truly a tough weekend to be a hitter.  Only one team scored double-digit runs in a single game over the three-day span, while 13 teams were either shut out or held to one run in at least one of their games. 

Perhaps Father’s Day weekend will feature a bit more offense.