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TORONTO -- Justin Verlander took the mound for the ninth inning, fully aware of the no-hitters he had finished -- and his near misses, too. Zeroed in, he wouldn't be denied this time. Verlander pitched his third career no-hitter, punctuating a dominant season by striking out 14 to lead the Houston Astros past the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Sunday.

CLEVELAND -- American League All-Star Game starter Justin Verlander told ESPN on Monday that the balls used in Major League Baseball games this season are "a f---ing joke" and that he believes "100 percent" that the league has implemented juiced balls to increase offense. "It's a f---ing joke," said Verlander, an eight-time All-Star who is starting his second All-Star Game on Tuesday. "Major League Baseball's turning this game into a joke. They own Rawlings, and you've got Manfred up here saying it might be the way they center the pill. They own the f---ing company. If any other $40 billion...

Astros pitcher and American League All-Star Justin Verlander is convinced that baseball’s ongoing surge of home runs is not only the result of a more aerodynamic baseball, but is the result of a baseball that has been intentionally juiced during manufacturing in order to produce more offense. Verlander told ESPN on Monday that the ball is “a f*king joke” and “it’s not coincidence” that the ball is flying farther now that its manufacturer is owned by Major League Baseball.

If the American League Central Division had a singular worry, it would have to be the imminent threat of its rising crime rate. This season, the division has had its fair share of brutal beatings, home-plate assaults and canon fire. Most of which have been perpetrated by Detroit Tigers potential Cy Young and MVP-winning ace Justin Verlander... Heading into his Aug. 22 matchup against Tampa Bay, Verlander was on track to garner win number 19 on the season. After allowing a leadoff home run, the Tigers star showed little remorse, as he annihilated the Rays over seven innings of baseball...

DETROIT -- Detroit's Justin Verlander threw 5 2-3 hitless innings Friday night before finally giving up a hit in his first start since throwing a no-hitter. Melky Cabrera's RBI triple foiled his bid to become the second pitcher to throw back-to-back no-hitters.

DETROIT (AP) -- Even before the first pitch is thrown, the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers are making this World Series memorable. Game 1 will have a pair of rookie starters for the first time, with Justin Verlander pitching Saturday night for the Tigers and Anthony Reyes for the Cardinals. "I'm sure anyone that goes up on the mound in the World Series is going to be excited," Reyes said. "That's kind of good, knowing he's probably going to have the same feeling as me." Reyes, 5-8 with a 5.06 ERA in 17 regular-season starts, has the fewest wins...

Tonight at midnight is the deadline for voting for baseball All-Stars. (Pitchers and reserves named later.) Each roster gets 34 players, and every team must be represented. What are your picks? Here are mine, with starter mentioned first, then the reserves (HM = Honorable Mention). I look at this year's performance, of course, but also factor in last year and career: NATIONAL LEAGUE C: McCann, Molina 1B: Fielder, Votto, Morse 2B: Weeks, Phillips SS: Reyes, Tulowitzki, Castro 3B: Ramirez, Jones OF: Braun, Holliday OF: Kemp, Victorino, McCutcheon OF: Berkman, Upton, Pence SP: Halladay, Hamels, Lee, Jurrjens, Hanson, Lohse, Kershaw, Kennedy,...

Two months into the season, here is my list of All-Star position players so far. My main criteria were offensive, using OPS ("On-Base Plus Slugging") and RC27 ("Runs Created per 27 outs"). In nearly every case this produced a clear stand-out, essentially making defensive comparisons unnecessary for this purpose, given the difficulty of determining them accurately anyway. Additionally, I selected based only on this year's performance; Pujols and ARod don't measure up, so far. I found only one essential tie, AL SS. NATIONAL LEAGUE C CHRIS IANETTA, COL 1B JOEY VOTTO, CIN 2B RICHIE WEEKS, MIL 3B RYAN ROBERTS, AZ...

Who are your picks for this year's All-Star Game in San Francisco? 32 players on a side, and each team must be represented. Voting at mlb.com ends Thursday night at midnight. I weigh three factors: this year, last year, and career. Here are my picks, with 18 position players and 14 pitchers (9 starters, 5 relievers) on each side: NATIONAL LEAGUE C: RUSSELL MARTIN (LAD), Bengie Molina (SF) 1B: ALBERT PUJOLS (STL), Prince Fielder (MIL), Dmitri Young (WSH) 2B: CHASE UTLEY (PHI), Orlando Hudson (ARI) SS: JOSE REYES (NYM), Edgar Renteria (ATL), Hanley Ramirez (FLA) 3B: MIGUEL CABRERA (FLA), David...

CARDS LEAD SERIES 3-1Cards are flying high!

Seeing as this All-Star Game is going to be a San Francisco thing anyway, they might as well have put Barry Bonds in the middle of it, in the city and amid the fans that adore him without reservation. Besides, most of the game will be played at night. No shadows. Bonds overtook Alfonso Soriano in the final days of balloting, a quarter million-vote rally that put him into the National League outfield with Ken Griffey Jr. and Carlos Beltran. So, presumably in the hours before he chases down Hank Aaron, before he forces an in-or-out answer from Bud Selig,...

Who are your picks, baseball fans? Voting at mlb.com ends TONIGHT at 11:59 (Eastern). MLB has just added a 33rd slot to the roster, which should include 20 position players and 13 pitchers (at least three of which should be relievers). Every team has to be represented, of course. My personal criteria balances current performance, last year's performance, and career performance. Here are my choices (starters in bold): NATIONAL LEAGUEC: Y. Molina (STL), B. McCann (ATL)1b: A. Pujols (STL), P. Fielder (MIL), A. Gonzalez (SD)2b: C. Utley (PHI), F. Sanchez (PIT), O. Hudson (LAD)SS: H. Ramirez (FLA), M. Tejada (HOU)3b:...

Justin Verlander throws a No-No as the Tigers beat the Jays 9-0, he gave up only 1 walk.