On the seventh pitch of his at bat against Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, Toronto's Rajai Davis struck out swinging. The strikeout gave Verlander the second no-hitter of his career and immediately set off a celebration amongst Tigers players. They rushed to the mound to congratulate Verlander, and Rod Allen delivered a perfect line to describe the moment: "They may have run the Kentucky Derby today, but the Tiger horse was No. 1."
↵Here is a look at the final pitch and the ensuing celebration:
↵↵For his first no-hitter, Verlander got the final batter to fly out to Magglio Ordonez in right field. This time around he struck out the final batter on an off-speed pitch. Verlander had been bringing the heat with multiple pitches over 100 miles per hour in the final few innings, but his no-hit-clinching pitch was off speed.
↵I don't think there is any better way to clinch a no-hitter than with a strikeout, so this was a perfect ending to an almost perfect game.