Justin Verlander fared well in season debut against Indians

Despite a 5-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians, the Detroit Tigers starting rotation finally felt whole again with the return of long time ace Justin Verlander.

The 32-year-old right-hander had been on the shelf since late in spring training while dealing with a triceps strain, but returned for Saturday’s start at Comerica Park.

Obviously, nobody was expecting peak level Verlander in his long-anticipated return, but the former American League Cy Young and MVP Award winner more than held his own on his strict pitch count. Verlander ended up tossing five innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks, while throwing 87 pitches.

Verlander struck out two and allowed one home run, a solo shot to Carlos Santana in the fourth inning.

Of course, the concern for many didn’t center around Verlander’s results, but rather his velocity. That’s perhaps where the greatest encouragement came from, as Verlander seemed to pick up steam as the game moved along.

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According to James Schmehl of MLive.com, Verlander hit 92 mph with his first fastball, sat at 93-94 mph for most of the afternoon, and then topped out with 97 mph heat in his fifth and final frame. That suggests Verlander felt healthy and comfortable letting loose as his pitch count neared, but it did cost him some effectiveness.

“When I tried to step on the gas a little bit, fell out of rhythm a little bit and walked a couple guys,” Verlander said. “That’s more effort than I’ve had to put in yet, so it kind of makes sense why the rhythm wasn’t quite there.”

Overall, Verlander did more than enough to keep Detroit in the game. He came out of the chute strong, retiring nine of the first ten, which was aided by Anthony Gose’s diving catch in the first inning.

Verlander left with the Tigers leading, which put him in line for the victory. Unfortunately, Detroit’s bullpen was unable to hold on. Blaine Hardy entered in the sixth and immediately gave the lead away, allowing a game-tying triple to David Murphy and a Yan Gomes sacrifice fly. That same combo provided Cleveland’s insurance run as well, as Gomes doubled home Murphy in the eighth.

With the results in mind, manager Brad Ausmus had no regrets about adhering to the pitch count, but also knows those restrictions will have to come off soon.