Justin Verlander makes final start of his career: 5.1 innings, 6 strikeouts

Justin Verlander made the final start of his Major League Baseball career on Saturday as the Detroit Tigers hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates at Comerica Park. Regarded as one of the finest pitchers of his era, Verlander threw 5.1 innings and left the game with the Tigers trailing 2-0.

As Bleacher Report notes, his final line showed 5.1 innings, 6 strikeouts and 1 walk (6/1 K/BB). He flashed vintage form with six strikeouts but gave up solo home runs to Brandon Lowe in the fourth and Jacob Gonzalez in the fifth. After 87 pitches through five, Verlander returned for the sixth, got a pop-out from Lowe, and then manager A.J. Hinch — together with his daughter Genevieve — walked to the mound to take him out of the game; fans gave him a standing ovation.

Verlander, 43, had announced in July that he would retire at the end of the 2026 season. After his first 13 seasons in Detroit, he returned to the Tigers at the deadline to close out his career where he made his name — but the season was marked by injuries: he spent nearly the entire time on the injured list and made only two starts all season, with the team entering the game at 75-85.

According to Bleacher Report, Verlander closes a 21-year career in which he played for the Tigers, Houston Astros, New York Mets and San Francisco Giants, as a 10-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young winner, one-time league MVP and two-time World Series champion with the Astros. He walks away with 266 career wins (tied for 37th all-time) and 3,560 strikeouts, the eighth-highest total in MLB history.