Blue Jays’ Juan Rivera was unimpressed with Justin Verlander’s no-hitter
A. Isaac 
In the history of Major League Baseball, there have been 20 perfect games. It’s legitimately one of the hardest feats in sports as you also have to rely on your teammates to have a superb day in the field. Even carrying a perfect game into the last three innings is an astonishing feat in itself.
Which brings us to Blue Jays outfielder Juan Rivera.
When Justin Verlander faced Rivera in the 7th inning on Saturday, his perfect game was still intact. Rivera harmlessly grounded out to the mound and had some choice words for Verlander as he headed back to the dugout.
The Toronto Blue Jays left-fielder told the Detroit Tigers ace that he was “getting lucky” as he walked past the mound on the way back to the dugout following his seventh-inning groundout to the pitcher.
Both players confirmed the incident to sportsnet.ca Sunday, the day after Verlander allowed only an eighth-inning walk in Saturday’s 9-0 victory.
For his part, Rivera said he simply said what he felt and that gamesmanship wasn’t his motivation. He flew out to left in the first and struck out looking in the fourth before his comebacker in the seventh.
You know, had Rivera or one of his teammates been robbed of a home run in spectacular fashion, he could maybe utter a word or two under his breath. But up to that point in the game, there hadn’t been many hard hit balls.
Verlander ended up losing his perfect game bid the next inning when J.P. Arencibia fought off several 100 mph fastballs en route to a walk. That said, he still finished the game with the second no-hitter of his career. Considering there had only been 270 of those before that day, I’d say it’s still a hell of a feat. However, we may want to check with Mr. Juan Rivera about that just to get his opinion on the matter.
Verlander dazzled…most people [Sportsnet.ca]
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