24- year old Verlander strikes out 12 in first no-hitter in Comerica Park history

DETROIT – Justin Verlander shared an exhilarating hug with catcher Ivan Rodriguez, a quiet moment with Tigers manager Jim Leyland and made Comerica Park history.\nWith a big assist from his shortstop, Verlander pitched the ballpark’s first no-hitter, leading Detroit over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 Tuesday night.\n“It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said.\nThe 2006 AL Rookie of the Year struck out 12. He benefited from several stellar defensive plays, the best by Neifi Perez, who turned a possible single up the middle in the eighth into an inning-ending double play.\n“About the fifth or sixth you can’t help but think about it a little,” Verlander said. “Everyone kept giving me high-fives and nobody came and sat next to me.”\nVerlander threw 100 mph heat, crazy curves and a tantalizing changeup: The NL Central-leading Brewers didn’t have a chance against him.\n“We only hit four or five balls hard all night ... that’s how dominant he was,” said Brewers thirdbaseman Craig Counsell, twice called out on strikes.\nVerlander (7-2) worked around four walks in the Tigers’ first no-hitter Jack Morris in 1984.\nThe 24-year-old trotted to the mound for the ninth to a standing ovation from the crowd of 33,555.\n“I had way too much adrenaline, to be honest,” Verlander said.\nAmped up, he struck out Counsell and Tony Graffanino. That brought up J.J. Hardy, and Verlander had a momentary lapse, throwing a high breaking ball. At that point, Verlander stepped off the mound.\n“I said, ‘Let’s get it back down,’” he said.\nVerlander then got Hardy to lift a high fly ball that right-fielder Magglio Ordonez caught at the edge of the warning track.\nVerlander didn’t even see the ball settle into Ordonez’s glove.\n“I wanted to watch the catch, but Pudge was yelling in my ear,” he said.\nRodriguez was already at the mound and hugged Verlander as the pitcher wheeled around.\n“I think I was more excited than he was,” Rodriguez said.\nThis was the first no-hitter in Detroit since Nolan Ryan of the Angels did it at Tiger Stadium in 1973. Comerica opened in 2000.\nMilwaukee was last no-hit on April 27, 1994, by Scott Erickson at Minnesota. This was the third interleague no-hitter since interleague play began – David Cone did it for the Yankees against Montreal and a set of Houston pitchers blanked the Yankees.\nVerlander was greeted by manager Jim Leyland as he walked off the field.\n“A lot of things go through your mind when something like this happens,” Leyland said, fighting back tears. “I’m very happy for him, happy for the team, happy for the fans to see something special.”\nVerlander had all of his pitches working in his second career complete game and first of the season. He finished with 112 pitches in the no-hitter.\n“The guy was throwing 99 with a great hook and a good change,” Graffanino said. “That’s tough to beat.”\nVerlander set the tone early by striking out Counsell and Graffanino to start the game.\nMilwaukee didn’t get its first baserunner until Hall walked with one out in the third. But Verlander then struck out Gross, and got Counsell on a hard one-hopper that first baseman Sean Casey neatly handled.\nBrewers pitcher Jeff Suppan almost matched Verlander pitch for pitch the first five innings. He only allowed two hits in that span and his only mistake was to Brandon Inge, who hit his 11th homer of the season in the third.