Detroit Tigers: Ten best pitching performances in team history

The Detroit Tigers have a storied history. In honor of throwback Thursday, here are the ten greatest single game performances in franchise history.

The Detroit Tigers have played 18,225 games in their 117 year history. That means there have been 18,225 starts, made by 495 different Tigers pitchers.

They range from the mundane (Jeremy Bonderman 3 IP, 7 ER on June 3, 2004) to the extraordinary (No-Hitters, complete game shutouts, playoff clinching victories, etc.).

Here is our attempt to find the ten greatest pitching performances in team history.

Before going on, try and think back to some of the greatest performances you remember seeing your favorite Tigers put on. If there’s something you think we missed, please don’t hesitate to reach out! You can reach us on Facebook or on Twitter.

We start with one of the best in franchise history doing what he does best:

The First No-Hitter

It did not take long for Justin Verlander to register his first career no-hitter. On June 12, 2007, appearing in just his 45th big league game, Verlander blanked the Milwaukee Brewers in a 4-0 victory. Verlander walked four but struck out 12, a season high. It was the first no-hitter in Comerica Park. He posted a game score of 95, tied for the tenth highest total in franchise history.

While it was the first no-hitter for Justin Verlander’s storied career, it would not be his last. Verlander threw another no-hitter on May 11 during his magical 2011 campaign. He faced the Toronto Blue Jays and only allowed one base runner in a 9-0 victory. While either of these games could have qualified for the final spot, we always have a special place for the first born, and Verlander’s first no-hitter  truly cemented his place not only in Tigers history, but in baseball history as well.

Verlander ended up finishing 2007 with a stellar 18-6 record and a 3.66 ERA. He made his first All-Star game and finished fifth in Cy Young voting. He would of course go on to make five more All-Star games and win the 2011 Cy Young and MVP award.

Verlander’s Tigers career came to a sad end at the 2017 trade deadline, when he was dealt to the eventual World Champion Houston Astros in exchange for right-hander Franklin Perez, outfielder Daz Cameron and catcher Jake Rogers.

The Detroit Tigers had a great chance to make it back to the World Series just four short years after winning it all in 1968. They squared off against the Oakland A’s in the ALCS in 1972, a heartbreaking series that saw the Tigers lose 2-1 in the deciding game five.

The reason they even made it to game five was thanks to starting pitcher Joe Coleman, who spun an absolute gem in game three.

The Tigers went down quickly 0-2 in the best of five series. They headed back to Tigers Stadium, knowing that they would have to win all three games in a row in order to advance to the World Series. Game three was a matchup between right-hander Joe Coleman of the Tigers and left-hander Ken Holtzman of the A’s. Holtzman had gone 19-11 with a 2.51 ERA and his first All-Star appearance in 1972.

Coleman had a similar season, going 19-14 with a 2.80 ERA and his first (and only) All-Star appearance as well. It promised to be a showdown of two great pitchers.

The Tigers managed to get to Coleman early, with first baseman Ike Brown plating two with a single in the fourth inning. That was all Coleman would need, as he went on to have the game of his career against a solid Oakland lineup.

Coleman threw a complete game shutout. While he surrendered seven hits and walked three, he also struck out 14. He held future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson to an 0-4 night, not an easy task in the 1970’s.

The Tigers won game four but eventually succumbed to A’s ace Blue Moon Odom in game five. Coleman went on to post a 142-135 record in his 15 year career, with a 3.70 ERA and 18 career shutouts. None quite as epic as the one in Game Three.

One of the more underappreciated characters in Tigers history, Louis Norman ‘Bobo’ Newsom nearly became the first Tigers pitcher to win three games in a single World Series, when he won games 1 and 5 in 1940. Of course, this was famously done by left-hander Mickey Lolich in 1968.

Newsom won game of the 1940 World Series by a score of 7-2. The next morning, Bobo found out that his father had passed away of a heart attack that evening. Newsom went home to bury his father and returned in time for Game Five.

Newsom’s game five, considering the circumstances, was one of the greatest pitched games in history. Fighting back tears, Newsom held the Reds to just three hits in a complete game, 8-0 shutout. Newsom walked two and struck out seven, good for a game score of 86.

Unfortunately, the Tigers would lose game six by a score of 5-0. Needing another starter, Newsom was forced to start game seven. He pitched admirably, holding a 1-0 lead through six innings before giving up two in the seventh. The Tigers lost 2-1, blowing a 3-2 lead. No fault of Newsom’s of course.

Newsom ended up pitching until 1953 when he retired at the age of 45. He finished his 20-year career with a 211-222 record and a 3.98 ERA. He went 50-35 as a Tiger between 1939-1941. His best year was 1940, when he went 21-5 with a 2.83 ERA and finished fourth in MVP voting.

Perhaps one more win in 1940 would have given Bobo the recognition he deserves.

It goes without saying, but baseball was a different game over 100 years ago. Gone are the days when pitchers would always throw complete games, regardless of pitch count or extra innings.

Dead baseballs and huge, unending fences made baseball a much more low-scoring game. Because of this, many pitching stats are skewed from the early days. That does not mean the performances were any less extraordinary, just that they need to be viewed in a different lens.

One such outing is that of Tigers right-hander Bill Donovan. On September 10, 1911, Donovan defeated the Cleveland Naps 2-1. The game was won by the Tigers in the bottom of the 13th. Donovan threw the entire game. In 13 innings he surrendered five hits and one walk, while striking out seven. His one run was unearned as well.

Donovan’s game score was 101, one of very few games in Tigers history with a game score of over 100. Again, outings like this, while uncommon even back then, are virtually unheard of nowadays. Still, only giving up six baserunners in 13 innings of work is impressive no matter what era you’re in.

Donovan pitched for the Tigers for 11 years, going 140-96 with a 2.49 ERA and a 109 ERA+.

Fresh off the heels of an All-Star game appearance and a 20 win season, Jim Bunning scuffled a bit in 1958. While the end results were still decent (14-12, 3.52 ERA) he was not nearly as dominant as he was in 1957.

That is, except for July 20. On that day Bunning threw the first of what would be two career no-hitters, this time facing the Boston Red Sox. It was the fourth no-hitter in franchise history. There wouldn’t be another one for 26 years.

Bunning ripped through Boston’s vaunted offense, led by future Hall of Famer Ted Williams. He struck out 12, walked two and hit one batter. His last out was a flyout by Williams himself. Bunning attributes his success that game to his newfound slider, which he had worked hard at developing starting in 1956.

Bunning made five All-Star games during his time in the Motor City, which spanned from 1955-1963. He went on to make two more All-Star games with the Phillies and retired in 1971 at age 39. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee in 1996, 25 years after his playing career was completed.

Bunning has the distinction of being the only person to be elected to the United States Senate and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Bunning served in the US House of Representatives, representing Kentucky’s 4th district, from 1987-1999.

He passed away at age 85 on May 26, 2017.

A double-header between the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox on September 7, 1951 gave the fans even more baseball than they could have expected. The Tigers won the first game 4-1 behind excellent pitching from Ted Gray.

The second game ended up going 14 innings before the Tigers finally won it by a score of 2-1. Virgil Trucks, like Bill Donovan many years before him, threw the entire game. However, Trucks didn’t just hold the White Sox to one (unearned) run over 14 spectacular innings; he also hit an RBI double in the 14th inning to win it.

So let’s review. Trucks only surrendered five hits and four walks across 14 innings and God knows how many pitches. In the top of the 14th inning, with a runner on base, the Tigers allowed Trucks (a career .180 hitter) to take his sixth plate appearance of the game, and Trucks promptly knocked in a run to give himself the victory.

They say no one person can win a baseball game. Virgil ‘Fire’ Trucks came about as close as you can way back in 1951.

Trucks went on to have an incredibly interesting season in 1952. He finished the year 5-19 with a 3.97 ERA. On the surface, a pretty bad year for a pitcher pre-1968, when the mound was lowered. However, Trucks threw two no-hitters that year. One on May 15 against the Senators and one on August 25 against the Yankees. He allowed six base runners against the Senators and another three against the Yankees. He remains the only Tigers pitcher to throw two no-hitters in the same season and was the only Tiger with multiple no-hitters until Justin Verlander threw his second one in 2011.

Trucks finished his 17-year-career in 1958 with a 177-135 record and a 3.39 ERA. He made two All-Star games and was considered for the Hall of Fame in 1964.

Before winning it all in 1935, the Tigers suffered a major heartbreak in the 1934 World Series. They had a 3-2 lead against a loaded Cardinals squad, before dropping games six and seven to lose.

However, before the heartbreak was an outstanding handful of games, including a 12-inning marathon in game two. The Tigers won on a walk-off single by Hall of Famer Goose Goslin, driving in Charlie Gehringer. The real hero of the game, however, was starting pitcher Schoolboy Rowe.

Rowe tossed all 12 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits. He struck out seven and amazingly did not walk any. Even though the Tigers went on to lose, Rowe’s performance in game two was one of the best in team history.

Rowe himself was also one of the best in team history, winning 19 or more games three years in a row between 1934-1936. He was a three-time All-Star and twice finished in the top-ten in MVP voting, even after missing two years serving in World War II.

Rowe finished up his career in 1949 with 158 wins and a 3.87 ERA. He went on to become the Tigers pitching coach in the 1954 and 1955 seasons. He passed away of a heart attack at age 50 in 1961.

One of the Tigers best pitchers that you’ve likely never heard of, Ed Summers threw 999 innings in the Motor City with a 2.42 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Those nearly 1,000 innings were only across five seasons however, as Summers was out of pro baseball by age 27.

That’s not before he unleashed a performance that would make modern pitching coaches and analysts shake in their boots. On July 16, 1909, Ed Summers threw a complete game shutout, giving up seven hits and two walks while striking out 10. That in itself is a phenomenal game. But here’s the kicker.

Summers threw 18 innings.

Oh, and the game ended in a 0-0 tie.

Perhaps my favorite story from this game is that the length of the game was (get this) 3 hours and 15 minutes. An 18-inning game in 1900 took less than last season’s 9-inning average. Wow.

Summers burst onto the scene as a 24-year-old rookie, going 24-12 with a 1.64 ERA in 1908. He was a big part of Detroit’s World Series against the Chicago Cubs. He went 19-9 in 1909 before tapering off the next few seasons. After only making three starts in 1912 his career was over, as quickly as it began.

Fitting that this post starts and ends with a pitcher who may go down as the greatest the team has ever seen. Justin Verlander may have thrown two regular season no-hitters, won a Cy Young and an MVP award and made six All-Star games, but the man was somehow even better in the play-offs.

Particularly against the Oakland A’s.

The Tigers were up three games to one heading back to the Oakland Coliseum to face the A’s. Even though the lead was comfortable, the A’s were a 94-win team playing at home and had a lot of life left in them.

Justin Verlander made sure to take care of that.

The ace right-hander made quick work of the A’s in Game Five, throwing a complete game shutout. He only gave up four hits and one walk, while striking out 11. It was an outstanding performance for Verlander to cap off an excellent series. Verlander also started game one, earning the win in seven strong innings while also striking out 11 hitters. Two wins, 16 innings pitched and 22 strikeouts is an incredible series, and Verlander cemented himself in A’s villany that week.

Next: 2006 Tigers: Where are they now?

An honorable mention to the excellent start from Armando Galarraga on June 2, 2010. Galarraga was perfect through 26 batters, but surrendered an infield hit to Jason Donald that was incorrectly ruled by first base umpire Jim Joyce. Had the call stood, Galarraga would have had an 83 pitch perfect game, the first in Tigers history.

Alas, he had to settle for a one-hitter.