Jarrod Dyson bunted to break up Justin Verlander's perfect game (and that's OK)
It was only the sixth inning, but Justin Verlander had indeed not allowed a baserunner
By
Dayn Perry
•
2 min read
On Wednesday night in Seattle, Tigers ace Justin Verlander took a perfect-game bid into the sixth inning against the Mariners. With one out in the frame, however, M's fly-catcher Jarrod Dyson laid down a well-placed bunt, and Verlander's bid for history was no more. Take a look ...
Justin Verlander has a perfect game going into the 6th.....until Jarrod Dyson put down a bunt. pic.twitter.com/iKmodRtp3K
— 120 Sports (@120Sports) June 22, 2017
"That's what speed do," as Mr. Dyson would've said long about 2014. Now some numbers on that beauty ...
Jarrod Dyson breaks up the perfect game...
— Daren Willman (@darenw) June 22, 2017
Exit Velocity: 42.6 MPH
Launch angle: -35 degrees
Forty-two point six. Much respect.
Anyhow, bunting to break up a no-hitter or perfect game is sometimes frowned upon, so on Wednesday night reactions like this one ...
Wait, did Dyson really just break up the perfect game with a bunt single? Down 4-0, that's a damn bush league move.
— Brandon Land (@onestrikeaway) June 22, 2017
... weren't hard to come by. But come on. It was the sixth inning, which means we just barely call what Verlander had going a "bid" of any kind. Also, yes, it was 4-0, but the M's when Dyson stepped in still had 11 offensive outs to play with. It's not as though the outcome were already decided. At that juncture, Seattle had a 6.8 percent chance of winning the game. Those aren't good odds, but it's hardly "baseball miracle" territory. Speaking of which, here's how the rest of the frame played out ...
| Mariners 6th | |
| Justin Verlander pitching: | |
| Mitch Haniger: | Foul, Strike looking, Haniger struck out swinging. |
| Jarrod Dyson: | Strike looking, Ball, Dyson reached on bunt single to pitcher. |
| Mike Zunino: | Pickoff attempt, Ball, Pickoff attempt, Foul, Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Foul, Zunino walked, Dyson to second. |
| Jean Segura: | Strike swinging, Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Segura singled to left, Dyson to third, Zunino to second. |
| Ben Gamel: | Foul, Ball, Ball, Foul, Foul, Foul, Gamel singled to center, Dyson scored, Zunino to third, Segura to second. |
| Robinson Cano: | Foul, Foul, Foul, Ball, Ball, Cano struck out looking. |
| Nelson Cruz: | Foul, Cruz doubled to left, Zunino and Segura scored, Gamel to third. |
| Shane Greene relieved Justin Verlander. | |
| Kyle Seager: | Seager intentionally walked. |
| Danny Valencia: | Strike looking, Strike (foul tip), Valencia popped out to shortstop. |
| End of Inning (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) | |
Yep, Dyson struck the first blow of what wound up being a three-run frame -- a frame that brought the M's to within a run. Oh, and they wound up winning by the score of 7-5. As the win probability chart shows, it was Dyson's bunt single that started Seattle's upward trend in this game ...
Source: FanGraphs
As a result of that bunt-aided victory, the Mariners pulled back to .500 and on Thursday against these same Tigers they'll have a shot at having a winning record for the first time in 2017. They're also just off the pace for the second AL wild-card spot, which is something considering Seattle has been waylaid by pitching injuries and was at one point eight games below .500.
The M's, you see, are still trying to contend, and that's why doing something perfectly within the rules that advances the cause of winning is always acceptable -- even when there's a perfect game in progress. Dyson could've laid one down in the ninth, and it would've been cool by this scribe. A hitter's job is not to accommodate the pitcher. His job is to help his team win, which is what Dyson did on Wednesday night.
