After pitching a no-no back in May, Tigers ace Justin Verlander all but assured his spot in Cooperstown after he and two relievers accomplished something no one else in baseball ever has by throwing a negative-hit game Tuesday night. And he achieved it in Sox Park, thanks to another appallingly unprecedented hitting performance by the South Siders.
In the second inning of Detroit’s 5-0 win, catcher Tyler Flowers swung so hard at a changeup from Verlander that he spun around quickly four times as the ball was crossing the plate. He replicated this feat in the eighth on a curveball from reliever Joaquim Benoit and ended up tallying six strikeouts in four at bats at the end of the game, thus giving Detroit the negative-hitter.
Manager Ozzie Guillen was less than pleased with the performance.
“Ay yi yi, you gotta be kidding me!” the Sox skipper shouted. “Flowers couldn’t have done worse if he’d had his [expletive deleted] back to the [expletive deleted] strike zone. If he’s going to get negative hits, I’m gonna ask Kenny and Jerry if we can pay him negative money.”
By Brian Summerfield
