DETROIT (AP) – Justin Verlander allowed one hit over eight innings and the Detroit Tigers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-0 on Wednesday night.
Josh Bell ended Verlander’s attempt at a third career no-hitter in the sixth inning with a grounder off the glove of a diving Nicholas Castellanos at third base.
Ian Kinsler homered, scored four times and drove in four runs and Castellanos had five RBIs. The Tigers lost the first two games of the home-and-home series in Pittsburgh. The series concludes Thursday afternoon.
Verlander (8-7) won for the third straight start, allowing three walks while striking out six. He has allowed two runs in 21 innings in wins over the Astros, Orioles and Pirates.
He received a standing ovation at the end of the sixth, and a longer one after retiring the side in the eighth. Still the subject of constant trade rumors, he tipped his cap to the fans after the eighth.
Ivan Nova (10-9) allowed six runs, 10 hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five in his first outing against the Tigers in exactly four years.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first on singles by Kinsler, Miguel Cabrera and Castellanos.
Detroit made it 3-0 in the second. John Hicks doubled, took third on right fielder Gregory Polanco’s fielding error and scored on Andrew Romine’s sacrifice fly. After Jose Iglesias struck out, Kinsler hit his 11th homer.
Jim Aducci kept Verlander’s no-hitter alive with a running catch of Francisco Cervelli’s sinking liner in the fifth, then had to make a quick recovery on the next batter when he misjudged Starling Marte’s line drive.
Castellanos made up for his defensive lapse in the seventh, lining a bases-clearing triple into the right-centerfield gap after Nova walked two batters and hit a third. Castellanos leads the American League with eight triples.
Kinsler made it 9-0 with a three-run double in the eighth.
Bell got his second hit of the night with a double off Daniel Stumpf in the ninth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: Bell broke up Verlander’s no-hitter on a day where he was getting a partial day off. With the Pirates playing in an American League park, he was serving as the designated hitter instead of his usual spot at first base.
Tigers: OF Alex Presley (oblique strain) was scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday. . SS Jose Iglesias returned from the bereavement list on Wednesday, so 3B Jeimer Candelario was optioned back to Toledo.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Gerrit Cole (9-8, 4.00) will face the Tigers in the final game of the four-game, two-city series. Cole is 1-1 with a 2.41 ERA in three career starts against Detroit.
Tigers: RHP Drew VerHagen (0-1, 5.00) will start the series finale for the Tigers, his second start of the season. VerHagen has never started against Pittsburgh, but has faced them three times as a reliever, going 0-0 with an 11.57 ERA.
