Eduardo Valencia's magical walk-off to close out Verlander Weekend was the only fitting ending

After riding the emotional rollercoaster of watching Justin Verlander pitch his last major league start at Comerica Park, it left me wondering if it really mattered if the Tigers won this game. Verlander got back out there to pitch 5 1/3 strong innings with six strikeouts to bring his career total to 3,560 (10 ahead of Max Scherzer, but who's counting? Actually, probably Verlander).

He got a hero's farewell, walking off the mound to a standing ovation, hand-in-hand with his daughter. That was the story of this game.

But as the Tigers got deeper and deeper, trailing the Pirates by only a few runs, it struck me: it really did matter that the Tigers won this game. Nothing else would be right.

Detroit was down by two going into the bottom of the ninth with with the top of the order due up. Javy Báez struck out swinging, but Max Clark and Hao-Yu Lee did exactly what they were put at Nos. 1 and 2 in the order to do. Clark singled, Lee doubled, and then Kevin McGonigle brought the Tigers' second run across with an RBI groundout.

And then Eduardo Valencia, batting cleanup on the day and who has a penchant for hitting storybook homers, came up to the plate with two outs. He fell behind 0-2 immediately to Pirates closer Mason Montgomery, who's having an exceptional season, but took a ball and then fouled off a 99.6 MPH fastball.

Then Montgomery made a mistake. he left a curveball middle-in, and Valencia crushed it to walk off Verlander's last start.

Eduardo Valencia's walk-off homer to close out Justin Verlander's final Tigers start was so good it felt scripted

Jason Benetti continues to be one of the best in the game. His call of the homer, "Did he? Did he? Yes he did! Hollywood, line one! The Tigers do it for JV!" undoubtedly set off goosebumps for everyone watching at home.

Though most of the Tigers' lineup was comprised of rookies, it's only fitting that one of them was the one to send Verlander off in such epic fashion. The Tigers still had to play a baseball game after Verlander left. There's always another man up. Time's arrow marches forward.

Verlander is 43. Both the Pirates and Tigers' broadcast poked a little bit of fun at his age by pulling up the ages of their players when Verlander made his debut. Konnor Griffin was -9 months old. Kevin McGonigle was less than a year old. Eduardo Valencia was five.

The team that Verlander rejoined this year is not the team that he left, nor the team that he should've won a World Series with. This is a Tigers team that's gotten younger and younger this season, who grew up watching Verlander in his prime. That's the beauty of baseball, even if it's part of the heartache, too.

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