"They are in for a treat," said Texas All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler. "Justin Verlander is what an ace is. The velocity he has on his fastball, and the way he commands it on both sides of the plate, makes it difficult in itself to face him.
"But then you add his secondary stuff on top of that," said Kinsler, who is 3-for-21 off Verlander in regular-season play. "He has one of the best curves in the game. He can spike it (in the dirt) or throw it for a strike. You forget about his change-up.
"When you get to two strikes, it's basically what he wants to put you away with, not necessarily what you want to hit."
Three other members of the NL lineup have never gotten a hit off Verlander. Overall, the NL lineup is 6-for-42 against him. One of those hits was a fly ball by Joey Votto that got lost in the sun.
For all these NL hitters who know little or nothing about how to deal with Verlander, Kinsler said, "I don't have any advice for them." He said that not because he didn't want to give away a secret. He said that because he truly didn't have anything he could tell them about how to hit Verlander.
Read the rest at The Freep.
Tonight's first pitch is at 7:30.
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