Going into Saturday, the Toronto Blue Jays hadn't been the victim of a no-hitter since Nolan Ryan threw one against them in 1991. That all changed on Saturday afternoon when Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander tossed the second no-hitter of his career and did it against the Blue Jays. (Amazingly, Ryan's no-hitter against Toronto in 1991 was the seventh and final one of his career.)
Here are some other notes involving firsts for Verlander's no-hitter:
- This is the first time Verlander has thrown a no-hitter since June 12, 2007. On that day Verlander threw his first career no-hitter, and it came at home against the Milwaukee Brewers in a 4-0 victory.
- This is the first no-hitter thrown by a Tigers pitcher since the one mentioned in the above bullet. Had Armando Galarraga not been robbed of a perfect game last year, this bullet would obviously be different.
- This is the first no-hitter thrown on the road by a Tigers pitcher since Jack Morris no-hit the White Sox at Comiskey Park on April 7, 1984.
- This is the first no-hitter thrown in a game involving the Tigers since Tampa Bay's Matt Garza no-hit Detroit on July 26 of last year.
- This is the first no-hitter in Major League Baseball since, well, Tuesday. Minnesota's Francisco Liriano no-hit the White Sox earlier this week for the first no-hitter of the 2011 season, and it took only four days for the next one to occur.
By throwing the second no-hitter of his career, Verlander became only the second pitcher in Tigers history to have multiple no-nos. The only other Tigers pitcher with two no-hitters is Virgil Trucks, who threw both in 1952. Amazingly, as Jason Beck notes, Trucks' record was 5-19 that season. Almost half of his wins were no-hitters. (Verlander is up to three wins, so unless he throws quite a few more this season, I don't think we will have to worry about half of his wins coming in no-hit fashion.)