For one brief, shining moment this afternoon, it looked like the Pirates were going to pull off an incredibly unlikely comeback against Justin Verlander this afternoon. After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, Kevin Correia somehow shored up the slopes against the Tigers’ exlposive offense and kept the game within reach until Garrett Jones hit an unlikely home run off of Verlander in the seventh to tie the score. Verlander looked beyond pissed about the home run and a packed PNC Park exploded. It just felt like one of those afternoons.
It wasn’t, of course, and Chris Resop gave up the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth while Verlander finished his complete game to salvage a win for the Tigers in a game that no one really thought the Pirates had a chance. Two wins against the Tigers is still a very good result, of course, and there’s no shame in losing to Verlander. Still, the loss feels like a bit of an anticlimax after the excitement of Jones’s homer.
