Justin Verlander is OK with Jarrod Dyson's bunt that ended perfect game
Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander had his perfect game Wednesday broken up by a bunt, usually something that is seen as a violation of those unwritten rules of baseball.
Verlander, however, said the bunt single by the Seattle Mariners' Jarrod Dyson wasn't something he took issue with because of two factors: It occurred in the sixth inning with one out, so Verlander still needed 11 outs to complete a perfect game, and Dyson is known to leg out singles in that manner.
“It was a perfect bunt,” Verlander said. “That’s part of his game. I don’t think it was quite too late given the situation to bunt, especially being how it’s a major part of what he does. So I didn’t really have any issues with it. It wasn’t like I got upset about it.”
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus agreed.
“That’s what Dyson does. He uses his speed to get on base. Bunting for a base hit is one way to do it, and it certainly got him going.”
That it did. Trailing 4-0 at the time of Dyson's bunt single, the Mariners rallied for a 7-5 victory.
"I was just trying to get something going," Dyson said. "The guy was having a perfect game on us. I'm not just going to keep going up there hacking at him. I know how our matchups have been in the past. He always wins the battle, so I had to just try to play my game, and I was able to get down a good bunt."
Many on Twitter, however, didn't take too kindly to the way Dyson broke up perfection.
Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press and The Associated Press contributed to this report.