Before Kansas City's Melky Cabrera hit a triple in the sixth inning, Justin Verlander had faced 51 straight batters without giving up a hit. That span of hitless baseball included 14 and two-third innings and Verlander's no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays last Saturday.
For a while on Friday night, it looked like Verlander was on his way to making history by becoming only the second pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball to throw two no-hitters in a row. Only Johnny Vander Meer has accomplished that feat, and he did it in 1938. His amazing accomplishment will continue to stand alone in the record books, as Cabrera's triple broke up Verlander's no-hitter and scored a run as well.
Currently, the Tigers are leading the Royals by a score of 3-1. Triple or not, with the way Verlander is pitching Detroit appears to be in pretty good shape as they look for their sixth consecutive win.